Alice's Sister's Adventure In Underland
by QueenofMonsters
Summary: AnaBeth Aileen is the older sister of Alice Kingsleigh. It was like any other day, when they chase after a white rabbit. They reach a wonderful world called Underland. She meets a man that will either lead her down a path full of love or drop further into the crazy tunnel.
1. Chapter 1

The year is 1880 in England. The fashion for women contains tight fitted bodices, narrow sleeves that has frills at the end, high neckline, and sometimes the skirts ends right above the shoes. For the men, they are slim with the jacket unbuttoned a little to show the neat waistcoat and the chain of the pocket watch. The collars are stiff and they have a tie or bow tie.

England is beautiful with lush green grass and trees. Carriages take people to their destinations, and everyone is well groomed, including the horses. It is clear and sunny above the polluted sky. This day isn't like any other day, and this one day changes my life forever.

I dislike parties and I specially dislike this party for two reasons. My sister, Margaret Kingsleigh, which I hate with every fiber of my being is going to attend, and this party is an engagement party for my other sister. Alice Kingsleigh, my sister, doesn't like the man that is going to propose to her, and I really don't want her to get married. She is truly the only friend that I have in this world. Except, I'm not too worried she will accept the proposal, because like I said she has told me on many occasions that she hates Hamish. As you can guess, Hamish is the man that is going to propose to Alice.

"You're not wearing a corset," Helen, mother, says to Alice and I snicker a little. Of course Alice isn't wearing a corset, she despises corsets just as much as I dislike them. Alice's blue eyes flicker towards me on the other seat and focuses back on mother.

"I despise them," Alice replies in a soft, yet determined voice, "Besides, AnaBeth isn't wearing a corset herself."

"AnaBeth doesn't need a corset, but you do," mother says as she checks to see if Alice is wearing any stockings, which of course she isn't. I stick my tongue out playfully at my younger sister, and I turn back towards the window. Seeing Alice's reflection in the window, I see her roll her eyes and a strand of her golden blonde hair falls down her face. Mother not missing a beat, quickly puts the strand away from her face, and puts it with the rest of her curly hair. Her hair is beautiful, but it doesn't really suit her pale skin.

Closing my eyes from all of the fuss, I take a deep breath in and the smell of wet grass makes its way through the air. The wet grass smell reminds me of that horrible day, and the gut retching emotion takes over to the point where I have to open my eyes. It seems that neither mother nor Alice notices my discomfort, and I give a small sigh of relief. The rough rocking of the carriage starts slowing down and finally stops altogether.

The young footman opens the carriage door, and mother steps out with the help of the footman. Alice, who is only a few months younger than me, is helped out and then myself. Taking Alice's arm in my own, I start whispering to her and making sure mother doesn't hear me.

"Can you believe it, Alice?" I whisper excitedly, "We are nineteen years old, and you are already being proposed to."

"Please, don't remind me, AnaBeth," Alice replies with irritation in her voice, "I do not like or love Hamish, and I will not say yes to his proposal. Thank you for telling me about this beforehand, sister."

"You are welcome, sister, but make sure you at least act surprise, when he asks you, because I will get in trouble if you don't," I plead to her, "Which means that Margaret will want to talk or yell at me, and you know I don't want to ever see her again."

Before Alice can reply, we arrive in front of the huge stone mansion, which is owned by a man that was friends with our father, before father died. We were six at the time, when Charles Kingsleigh died from an illness that I can't even remember anymore. I didn't know Charles for that long, but when I entered this family, he treated me like I was another one of his daughters. Yes, I am not originally from the Kingsleigh family and that's why I have a different last name, but they treat me still like I'm part of the family.

We turn to the left of the mansion, and we enter the gardens where everyone is already there. The gardens are beautiful and well kept. At the bottom of the stairs is a huge wooden dance floor, and on both sides of the dance floor there is multiple white clothed tables. Each table is covered with an individual white umbrella. People in white, light blue, and yellow clothes are already dancing the waltz, if I remember correctly. I'm not well versed in the art of dancing, and I am not planning to show how incompetent I am in that art.

Lord and Lady Ascot greet us like they have been waiting for us. Like usual, Lord Ascot is nice and friendly, while Lady Ascot is stern and stone face as ever. I don't believe anyone can truly say they are friends with Lady Ascot considering she is very pompous. Especially at the Kingsleigh family, namely Alice and myself. Both of them are wearing white. Lady Ascot has her mousey brown hair curled and in a messy bun. All of these light colored clothes make me feel out of place considering I am wearing a dress that is the color of an eggplant. I would have worn something lighter, but I don't have any clothes that the lighter colors would suit my raven black curly hair.

"Why are you wearing such a dark dress?" Lady Ascot asks me, with an icy, yet polite voice.

"My daughter, AnaBeth, does not have any clothes that would fit in this occasion. This dress was the most suitable out of all of her outfits," mother explains as I curtsy. Basically, mother is telling them that this is the only bright dress I truly own. I hate bright dresses like pink, yellow, or blue, and I only have dark colors like black, dark red, and gun metal gray.

"It is good to see you all again. It has been awhile since the last time we saw each other," Lord Ascot says to us, trying to change the subject, "Alice, you look so much like your father. AnaBeth, you have become even more beautiful, since the last time I saw you. Of course, Mrs. Kingsleigh, you are still stunning."

If only Lord Ascot understands that it hurts me, when he says that I am beautiful. The man that I loved...No! I will not think about him and what he said to me, and I walk down the stairs with Alice.

"Alice, come dance with me," Hamish says to Alice, like I'm not even there. Hamish has always been like this. What I mean be that is that he is a lot like his mother, meaning that he is arrogant, when he wants to be. Deciding it would be best to let her dance, I remove my arm from her arm, and I turn towards the maze in the garden.

"I will see you after your dance, sister," I tell Alice, as I am heading towards the maze. The lush green hedges make an excellent maze, and I trail my fingers lightly against the rough, but smooth surface of the leaves. Pleasant memories of my childhood takes ahold of my mind, and I softly start humming. As a child, adults have told me that I have a beautiful singing voice, and learning that, I started singing to let my emotions go or to tell something about my life. I find that singing helps me more than writing or talking to people.

"You still have a nice singing voice, AnaBeth," a man's voice says behind me, and my whole body freezes, along with the feeling of my blood starting to boil all at once. I never want to hear his voice again, and after everything he has done to me, he is going to talk so familiar to me! The wounds that he has made are still very fresh and open. Except, I will not allow him to know how much he still hurts me, so I keep my composure and turn around.

"My name is AnaBeth Aileen," I tell him, with as much calmness I can muster. He still looks very handsome with his brown hair and his perfect features. I mentally shake my head back and forth to focus on the present, not in the past, "Please, address me as Ms. Aileen."

"Oh, come now," the man says to me, as he takes a step forward, "Why don't you want me to call you AnaBeth? You use to want me to always call you AnaBeth."

"You know why I won't let you call me that, Lowell," I spit his name out like it is poison, and I take a step back, "If you will excuse me, I have to go back to my sister."

"AnaBeth, I have missed you," Lowell says to me in a kind voice, and he strokes my cheek with his gloved right hand. Disgust fills my entire body, and I slap his hand away. I want to punch him in the face, but he is not worth it, and I will also get in trouble if I do.

"Don't you dare touch me!" I tell him in a low menacing voice, "You chose my sister, not me, so go back to that backstabber!"

Quickly walking past him, I exit the maze, and I find that Alice is with our older sister. They seem to be talking, but I do not care, and I need to talk to Alice, anyway. Walking right up to Alice, and I stare at Alice not even glancing at Margaret once.

"Alice, may I talk with you for a while?" I ask her, with anger and disgust still on my face. Guessing that she sees how worked up I am, she removes her arm from Margaret.

"Hello, AnaBeth," Margaret says to me, and my anger rises to the point, where I feel like I will either explode or punch someone in the face. Slowly moving my eyes away from Alice, I slide them up to Margaret's and I can tell from her face that she can see that I am still pissed at her.

"You may not call me AnaBeth. My name is Ms. Aileen," I whisper harshly to her, "use it."

Before she can reply, I take Alice's hand and I briskly walk away. Not letting go of Alice's hand, we walk away from everybody else and I sit underneath an oak tree. Finally, I release her hand, and she stands in front of me. As if she is talking to a sad little kid, she kneels on the ground and looks into my eyes.

"What's wrong, sister?" Alice whispers to me, and I bring my knees up. Putting my head into them, I stay like that for a minute or two, but it feels like I stayed like that forever. Slowly, my anger, disgust, and my overwhelming sadness drains out of my body. My shoulders slump, and I take in the smell of grass and dirt.

"Lowell stopped me in the maze," I tell Alice, while my head is still on my knees. Since my legs are covering my eyes, I can't see Alice's face, but I heard her gasp.

"What did he do, AnaBeth?"

"He said he missed me, and he stroked my cheek, but I slapped his hand away. I should have slapped his face too, or punched him, but I couldn't. Alice, I still love that horrible man, and it hurts me. I feel like my heart is going to burst, but at the same time I despise that man with my whole body. What kind of man marries a woman and then tries this behind her back?"

"A horrible man that's who," Alice says to me. I know that she must be feeling anger towards Lowell, because of what he has done to me, but also the fact that he tried doing this since he married our sister. I may not love Margaret, but Alice does and I am glad she still does. Margaret may have backstabbed me, but she deserves to have at least one sister that loves her. I must have gone mad.

"Alice? Do you think I am mad?" I ask her, as I lift my head up. Alice puts her hand on my forehead as if she is checking to see if I have a fever.

"I believe you have gone totally mad, bonkers," Alice replies to me, as she moves her hand away, "But I will tell you something, all the best people are."

Her saying that makes me smile, because that's what Charles always told Alice, when she had a nightmare and asked if she was bonkers. My sister smiles back and we hug each other, when I hear the light footsteps of a woman approaching us. Unfortunately, Margaret is the one who is coming towards us. Not wanting to allow her to see me like this, I quickly get up and wipe the dirt off of my skirt. Alice proceeds to follow me and by the time she reaches us, we are both presentable.

"Alice! Hamish is looking for you, and he wants to speak to you," Margaret says and we both look at each other. We know what he is going to say, and I look towards the party a few yards away. As usual Alice is as strong and independent so much that she doesn't seem nervous about the proposal. Even though she doesn't like the idea of being weak, or anything like that, I know she must be a little nervous.

"Thank you for informing us, Margaret," I say to her, as I take Alice's hand, "If you don't mind, Alice and I will walk back to the party alone." I smile and Margaret nods. I can tell that she is surprised by my sudden change of attitude, because she leaves us in shock. After she has walked away from us, Alice and I slowly start to make our way back.

"It's alright, Alice," I tell her, "Just let Hamish down gently."

As we are walking, we both suddenly stop and look towards the opening to the forest. I don't know about Alice, but I stopped, because I saw a streak of white in my peripheral vision. Not too sure, but I think I saw a white rabbit in a blue waist coat. Except, that's not possible.

"AnaBeth, did you see something?" Alice asks me, her voice is full of curiosity.

"That depends," I reply, "Did you see a rabbit with a waist coat on?"

"Yes."

"Then, yes," I say, and I take a step towards the woods. Right after I take that step, I remember that I have to take Alice to her engagement party. Sighing, I take out my golden pocket watch that I have had on my person forever. Glancing at the time, I put the pocket watch back into my pocket. When the Kingsleigh family first found me as a five year old, I didn't have anything, but the pocket watch. Also I could only remember my name, and nothing else.

I turn back towards the party, "Come on, Alice. We have to get back to the party."

"What about the rabbit?"

"We can look for it, after you tell Hamish that you are not going to marry him."

Alice sighs as well, and we walk a few more steps before we see the glimpse of white fur again. Except, we can see it and Alice starts chasing the rabbit. Calling Alice's name, I chase after Alice. Thankfully, the rabbit eludes Alice and I catch up to her. Quickly, I grab her arm and start speed walking towards the party.

Right as we reach the party, Hamish comes over to us and looks at Alice. He tells her that he has been looking everywhere for her and says he has something to tell her. Hamish takes her towards the gazebo and everybody that has attended the party follows them, including myself. Please Alice, I think to myself, don't make Hamish cry. We do not need a grown man crying, because people are going to be upset as it is.

There is a painter already working on the proposal scene, and I make my way to the front along with the rest of the two's families. Standing next to mother, I watch the whole scene unfold. Once they are on the gazebo, Hamish takes Alice's hands and bends down on one knee. Before he can say anything else, but Alice's name, Alice tells Hamish that there is a blue caterpillar on his shoulder, which there is. Hamish being the wimp as he is, looks at the caterpillar and tries to figure out how to remove the caterpillar without touching it. Alice, who is a tomboy, takes the caterpillar and puts it on the railing, then focuses on Hamish. He reluctantly takes her hand that she used on the caterpillar and starts his proposal.

"Alice Kingsleigh, will you be my wife?" Hamish asks her with a smile. Alice starts mumbling and steps backwards. Hamish stands up, but at that moment Alice runs into the maze.

"Alice!" I yell, as I run after her. Hearing the disapproval behind me, I keep running after my sister. I keep yelling for Alice to stop, but she doesn't stop running until we are a little bit in the forest.

"Alice, why didn't you stop running?" I ask her, out of breath. I watch her as she walks toward a rabbit hole at the base of an old tree. Keeping my eye on her, I step towards the hole as well. Before Alice can say anything, she slips and starts falling into the rabbit hole. Yelling her name, I grab her arm, but instead of stopping her from falling, we end up falling down the rabbit hole together.


	2. Chapter 2

I am expecting to land on dirt in a few seconds, but that isn't what happens. This isn't a normal rabbit hole, this rabbit hole isn't possible. There is light from light bulbs on all sides of the hole, well, it isn't a hole anymore. This rabbit hole is a rabbit tunnel. A bottomless tunnel that has to be made out of magic, because there is no possible way that this tunnel is made any other way. Also there is evidence of electricity, the light bulbs, and there shouldn't be any electricity for this tunnel. I would have looked around more if it isn't for the fact that I'm falling and screaming at the top of my lungs. Alice is also screaming at the top of her lungs, and combining her screaming with my screaming, it fills the tunnel with noise.

After falling for what feels like five minutes, I finally stop screaming and look around at my surroundings. There is furniture in the walls of the tunnel, and I hear a piano playing above me. Looking up, I see a grand piano falling towards Alice and I. Starting to scream again, I cover my eyes with my arms, and Alice starts to scream too. A few seconds later, Alice stops yelling, and I move my arms away from my face. The piano stops right in front of our faces and starts moving back up. That is not possible, because gravity would have made the piano fall right on top of us, but it is defying gravity. My brain feels like it is growing numb from all of these events.

Finally, we reach the ground and thankfully this magical place stop us right before we hit the ground. That is until Alice decides to touch the floor, which made us both fall on the ground with a big grunt. I face plant into the ground, and I stay like that for a little bit. Slowly, I lift my face off of the ground, and I see Alice sitting up, but her hair is hanging up and not laying on her shoulders. Looking around, I notice that in between us, there is a chandelier, but it is hanging upside down like Alice's hair. Wait a second, why is there a chandelier on the ground and not on the ceiling? Grasping the situation, I look up and see the floor, and the table. Oh my god, we landed on the ceiling, how is that possible!? As if the room realizes that we are on the ceiling and not on the floor, the room rights itself by dropping us on the floor.

"Why did you have to fall into the rabbit hole?" I ask her, as I stand up. Cracking my back, I walk over and help Alice get up off of the ground. She seems pretty battered like me and I give a small smile, "Maybe, this will teach you to chase after rabbits."

"Yeah," she replies with a smile of her own. We look around the room. We notice that there is a bunch of different colored, and sized doors. Alice decides to check the left half of the room, and I check the right side of the room. To no avail, every door in the room is locked and we stand in front of the round wooden table. Somehow without either of us noticing, there is a small dark medicine like bottle on the table. Alice gingerly picks the bottle up, and flips the label over for us to read it. There is only two words written on the label and it says "Drink me." Right away a red flag pops up in my mind, and I look over at my younger sister. Just from the look in her eyes, I can tell that she is actually considering to drink the dark substance.

"Are you seriously considering drinking the liquid?" I exclaim in surprise, "We don't even know what this liquid is, and for all we know it can be poison."

"If I die then you know not to drink it," Alice says casually and drinks it. Instead of her dying, her body does something really unexpected. Alice's body starts to shrink and shrink, to the point where she is the size of a rabbit standing on its hind legs. She notices something and runs over to the wall of doors. Usually, I would immediately follow after Alice, but my body starts to shake uncontrollably. My body shakes from fear, but I also feel déjà vu like this place is familiar. Yet, I know for a fact that I have never been here in my entire life. With nothing left to do, I take deep breaths and not too surprisingly there is no smells. Well, there is the basic smell of wooden furniture and my sweet smelling perfume, that mother pretty much had to force on me, because I wouldn't wear it.

"AnaBeth? Are you alright?" Alice asks me, when she finally sees me shaking. Barely being able to talk, I simply nod my head and my shaking subsides.

"What were you looking at, sister?" I muster a whisper, as I sink to my knees.

"There is a locked door over there that can only be entered by this height," Alice informs me, while I am trying to listen to her sentence.

"Well, all we need now is the key," I reply, when I notice that there is a key next to the bottle. That key was defiantly not there a few seconds ago. Taking the key, I give it to Alice, and it looks like it can unlock the small door, "I guess I have to drink the liquid myself." The substance starts to make my body shrink until I'm the same size as Alice. Unfortunately, when we both shrank down to this size, our dresses stayed the same size. We are now wearing the dresses that were underneath the outside dress. Like the outside dress, Alice's under dress is also light blue, and my under dress is dark purple. Thankfully, my pocket watch also shrinks and I take it with me.

Alice unlocks the door, and we step through into a beautiful, yet, strange garden. Maybe, because of the size difference, everything in the garden looks taller and bigger. I don't know why, but my first impression of the garden is if the underworld had a garden I think it would look like this one. There is bright colors, but they are dark colors, and the grass is really lush. A few trees have green leaves on them, but most of them don't have any leaves at all. The déjà vu feeling stays with me, as Alice and I walk down the pathway. Looking back at the door, there is only the open door that we just walked through and not any outside walls of the room, we were just in. This place defiantly has magic, and that just proves it.

As we reach the beginning of the grass, I realize that we are no longer alone. A few creatures are waiting for us, like they were expecting us. I recognize one of the creatures as being the white rabbit with the blue waist coat and pocket watch. His pocket watch looks to be cheaper than mine. Another figure is a pure white dormouse that seems to have a needle, as a sword at the hip. Two more notable figures are two human looking twins. They both have stripped shirts on, and suspenders that hold their black pants on. They also have little matching hats that have a propellers on the top of them, and they both have pot bellies. Considering their heights, they must be the same height of a couple of twelve year olds, but they are defiantly older than twelve year olds. There is also a blue bird that I believe is supposed to be extinct. I believe the name of the bird is a Dodo.

"You've brought the wrong Alice," the dormouse says to the rabbit, and then seems to have notice me, "And you allowed some other stupid girl into Underland."

"Hey!" I exclaim, as I stare at the dormouse, "You don't have to be rude. What did you mean by the 'wrong Alice'?"

"We cannot be sure she is the wrong Alice, we have to bring her to Absolem." The white rabbit says to the dormouse. Alice watches all of this in silence and finally speaks up.

"Who is Absolem?" Alice asks them, and they ignore her just like me. So we have to follow them in order to get both of our questions answered. Taking Alice's arm out of habit, we start walking alongside the white rabbit, which I learn is named Nivens McTwisp, and the dormouse, that is named Mallymkun. The twin humans, that after arguing with each other called themselves Tweedledee and Tweedledum, walk behind us and dominating most of the conversation. They may look older than children, but they act like children.

Finally, we reach the end of the pathway, and instead of a bright light, we find smoke waiting for us. The smoke is surrounding a blue three inch caterpillar that seems to be very familiar. Isn't this the same caterpillar that Alice put on the railing in the gazebo earlier? Except, this caterpillar is smoking a hookah and has a snarky expression on his face.

"Who are you?" Absolem asks Alice, and blows a smoke ring in her face.

"Absolem?" Alice asks back, and the caterpillar looks even more annoyed then he was before.

"No, you are not Absolem. I am Absolem," Absolem replies as he blows another smoke ring, "I asked, 'who are you?'"

"Alice," my sister says as she is coughing. Truth be told, Alice and I are both coughing, but nobody else is.

"The Alice," the caterpillar sounds surprise and Alice explains that there is a debate on whether or not she is 'The Alice'. Absolem explains that there is only one way to find out and that is looking at the scroll. We walk over to the mushroom that is to the left of the mushroom that the caterpillar is sitting on. On top of the mushroom is a scroll and the rabbit unrolls it to show a calendar. Geez, I am expecting an ancient prophecy and the scroll just shows Underland's holidays. There is a drawing that catches my liquid gold colored eyes and it shows a woman slaying a dragon looking creature. Not knowing why, but the name Jabberwocky pops into my head and another name is Flabjous Day.

"What is this, Nivens?" I ask the white rabbit, as I point at the picture.

"That is Alice slaying the Jabberwocky on Flabjous Day," he replies, but I am only half hearing, because I am mentally breaking down. How in the world did I know that? Alice seems to be having a mental breakdown of her own, because she grabs my hand and starts backing away from everyone. I would usually try to calm her down, but my body feels strange. I want to scream my head off, but nothing happens. I want to call out for Alice, yet my mouth doesn't cooperate with my brain. My body feels like Alice is pulling my body against hazardous waters, but there isn't any water.

"Alice," I am barely able to call her name, "Something...wrong."

"What's wrong with her?" Mallymkun tells Alice, as I fall to the ground. I hear Alice calling my name, but it sounds so far away like she is at the end of a tunnel and I am at the opposite end. My head feels like it wants to go into a coma. Alice starts to lightly slap my cheeks, but it doesn't change anything.

The thing that changes everything is this loud booming noise. This noise is even loud for me, when everything else sounds like it is at the end of a tunnel. Everyone instantly gets nervous and scared, while Alice helps me back on my feet. My body still feels like everything is crushing me, but I cannot allow my sister to be left all alone in this strange land.

"What is that sound?" I ask the Underlandians, but before they can answer the answer shows up on its own. The beast looks like a giant dog with a long tail and multiple rows of sharp teeth. Thankfully, my mind wakes up suddenly, and poisonous claws pop into my head. Before I can warn Alice to stay away from the claws, the...Bandersnatch attacks us. Alice and I run away from the beast, and I look back at the beast. The Bandersnatch isn't alone, there is a ton of red card soldiers run around the dog and chase after each of us. Running, Alice and I are farther away than the other Underlandians and they are being captured. I notice that the white rabbit and the Dodo are captured with a net. The dormouse hides in a log and the beast focuses on Alice and I. Thinking that we are going to leave the Bandersnatch in the dust, Alice suddenly stops and turns around to the oncoming beast.

"Alice! What in the world are you doing!?" I practically yell out the question.

"This is my dream, and it will not hurt me," Alice replies, and I nearly slap her in the face. The Bandersnatch roars into Alice's face, and I run towards her. Fortunately, Mallymkun gets there first and stabs the beast in the right eye with her little sword. While the beast is distracted, I grab Alice's arm, but the Bandersnatch claws our arms as we run. Great, I think to myself as I am breathing hard, I am going to have to worry about this too. My mind tells me that the beast has poisonous claws and I still get scratched by one. Without even realizing it, Tweedledee and Tweedledum run behind us, and we leave the Bandersnatch behind.


	3. Chapter 3

We finally stop running when we reach a split in the road. In the middle of the two roads is two signs saying names of places and the twins say it out loud, but I'm barely listening. At the moment all I want is to catch my breath, because I haven't ran that much before, because I spend all of my time in the Kingsleigh library and my study. After Charles died, none of the Kingsleigh women knew how to take care of the funds and the books, but from watching Charles maintain them I was the only one who could continue to take care of them, so I got Charles's old study. I was teaching Alice how to take care of it, when all of this stuff happened. Looking over at Alice, I notice that the twins are pulling her in different directions, probably arguing again.

Before I can stop them, I hear this enormously loud caw from a kind of bird. The bird is something I have never seen before, because it isn't a normal bird. It has bright sapphire blue feathers, but rainbow colored feathers in the wings. It has a long, narrow yellow beak and sharp teeth. It has a bright red streak from the beak up, in between the eyes, and down the head. Another name pops into my head, and I find out that the bird is called the Jubjub bird. The Jubjub bird takes both of the twins away by their ankles, and we are left alone.

"Which way do you want to go, Alice?" I ask her, as I step next to her. We start walking on the road that leads to the right, where the twins were taken to. As we are walking, neither of us speak, because I focus more on walking than anything else. My whole body is screaming to just stop and sleep, but I can't do that I have to keep moving forward.

"Are you alright, AnaBeth?" she finally asks me, and I shake my head from side to side, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know, sister. One minute I am fine and the next moment I feel déjà vu. This déjà vu feeling gets worse, and then my whole body feels like it just wants to crawl into a hole, and then die," I try explaining to her, but it doesn't sound right, "For example, right now my body just wants to stop and fall asleep forever."

Pretty soon the road is canopied by arched dead trees, and the setting sun finally dips behind the land making the sky into the night. There is a crescent moon hanging high in the sky with a bunch of little stars. This sky reminds me of the night sky back home. Now, along with everything else I am feeling homesick. Thankfully, it isn't too dark, so Alice and I can continue to follow the road through the forest. The smell of trees is really comforting and so is the sound of the night birds calling.

"It seems that you two ran into something with long claws," a deep voice says behind us making us turn around quickly. Instead of seeing a man behind us, we find a light blue cat looking at us on top of one of the tree branches. Its tail wages back and forth, as it looks at us. The cat opens its mouth and instead of a meow, the cat starts to speak.

"What was it?" the cat asks us. Alice tries saying its name, but after a few beginnings I tell the cat myself.

"It was called the Bandersnatch."

"The Bandersnatch!" the cat says with surprise in its voice, "Well, let me take a look." The cat disappears and reappears next to Alice looking at the wound, but the cat's body is not there, only its head.

"What are you doing?" Alice asks him.

"Well, the wound has to be healed or it will putrefy. The wound has to be healed by someone with the ability to disappear and reappear," the cat explains, but Alice doesn't seem like she is going to have it.

"I would rather you not," Alice tells him, and the cat just bandages it up instead. Disappearing, the cat reappears next to me looking at my arm. He asks me if I wanted the same thing as Alice, and I shake my head. I want him to cure the wound, because I don't want to worry about the wound.

"Alice, you should let him cure your arm too," I say to her, while the cat is working on my arm, "The Bandersnatch has poisonous claws, which means that, that wound is poisoned." Unfortunately, Alice still won't allow him to cure her arm, and I just decide to let it go. Once the cat is done with my arm, the wound looks like it is healing already.

"What is your name?" I ask the cat, and the cat does a bow gesture.

"My name is Cheshire Cat," he replies with a big smile that includes sharp looking teeth.

"It's nice to meet you, Cheshire. Thank you for taking care of my arm," I thank him, as my health starts feeling better. My body is still tired, but not as much as it was before, and the déjà vu feeling is going away. Since leaving that room full of doors, I finally give a genuine smile.

"What is your names?" he asks us.

"My name is AnaBeth Aileen," I tell him, and I let Alice say her name.

"Alice," she says simply, and Cheshire looks interested.

"The Alice?" he asks her, and I give out a mental sigh, not this again.

"Everybody keeps asking that, and they debate whether I am The Alice or whether I am not The Alice. I am Alice. I may not be The Alice, but I am Alice," she replies like she has been holding that in since we fell down the rabbit hole. I rub Alice's back gently, and I look at Cheshire.

"As you can tell we have encountered a bunch of people," I tell him, and I realize we need a destination instead of just walking around aimlessly, "Can you help us? We have no idea where we are going nor do we know anything about Underland."

"I can take you to the Hare and The Hatter," he says and then disappears. We both look around, when we hear his voice again behind us, "Coming?"

Quickly running after him, we walk with him through the forest. After an hour of walking, we finally reach a clearing in the forest. In the clearing, there is a long table with a white covered cloth. On top of the cloth is a huge tea set that has food everywhere, and I don't mean everywhere like there is a bunch of plates full of food, but I mean that food is on the cloth, on plates, on the floor. I'm pretty sure it's only biscuits and cake, but there could be more on the plates somewhere. Underneath the table is a long rug that has biscuits on it too. On both sides of the table, there is eight chairs and one on each end. Except, the chairs on both ends are different than all of the rest. The chair that is closest to us is more of a foot stool than an actual chair. The chair on the other end is an arm chair, and a man is sitting in it.

He has his arms are crossed against his chest like a vampire, and his head is hanging down. The man is wearing a black top hat with big, only for decor, needles stuck in the paled red sash of the hat. His skin is a weird color it is white like the rabbit earlier, but there is also a gray hue to it, and his frizzy hair is sticking out from underneath the hat. The man's hair is bright orange like a pumpkin, and his clothes are different than what the men wore in our world. His coat and waist coat is dark brown, but the big bow tie is black, with yellow, white, and light pink spots covering it to the point where there isn't that much black. There is a white shirt underneath the waist coat and bow tie, but the bow tie is so big that in only certain positions does the white shirt show. He has white ruffles at the end of his sleeves, and has a pink handkerchief hanging out his right pocket, with a light brown handkerchief hanging out of his left pocket. Finally, he has a leather sash across from his right hip over his left shoulder, and it seems to be caring even more needles, but these seem like they are used often.

All of a sudden, I strange feeling takes ahold of my stomach. I'm not surprise that I have another strange feeling, because that's all I have been having since I arrived in Underland. Except, this feeling is different, because this one is pleasant and at the same time unpleasant. It is like there is a hundred butterflies fluttering in there, every time I look at the man. Before I can think further, I check out the other creatures in this tea party.

A few seats to his right is another creature, and this one look like a rabbit too, but this rabbit is skinner and taller than the white rabbit earlier. This milk chocolate colored rabbit defiantly looks crazy, because its ears and eyes twitch every so often. It also seems asleep too, and he has a dark blue coat on. It has a silver pocket watch too.

As Alice and I are walking, Cheshire is floating, towards these two, I notice a decrepit house a little farther away from the table. The funniest thing about that is that the house is shaped like a top hat. The window is broken and it is leaning to one side. Next to the house is a windmill of sorts, but one of the blades is broken in half.

Taking a few more steps, one of the tea pot lids starts shaking and pops off. The dormouse comes out of the tea pot with a yawn, which made the March Hare stretch and yawn. Finally, the Hatter twitches awake and looks over towards us. His grass green eyes falls upon Alice, and he starts smiling then stands up. Unlike a normal person, he gets on top of the table and walks across it. Stepping off of the table, onto the footstool, and finally kneeling in front of us.

"It's you, it's really you," the man whispers with excitement, and Mallymkun notices us.

"The rabbit brought the wrong Alice," she says and then looks at me, "And he brought a stupid girl too."

"Really!? I am the stupid one!?" I exclaim, and I look her dead in the eyes, "Trust me, sweetheart, you are more stupid than I will ever be."

"AnaBeth," Alice says as she holds my arm, "Don't get into a fight, please."

"Tell that to the mouse runt over there," I say with a growl.

"I'm the runt!? You are smaller than me!" she replies as she draws her sword.

"When I get back into my original height, I will kick your furry-"

"AnaBeth! Stop fighting with a mouse!" Alice practically has to hold me back as I try to attack the furry ball. The mouse starts mocking me, and I start to feel my blood boiling. Except, this is different than when I got angry at the party, which seems like forever ago. This anger is coming from deep inside a mindset that isn't all there, bonkers. Great, I think to myself, I am losing my mind in this weird place. I can't even think straight, I'm surprise that I could think that whole sentence. Without the ability to think fully, I fight even harder to get Mallymkun. Finally, the Hatter picks me up by the back of my dress, and I can finally start thinking again.

"What happened?" I ask the man or anyone that can answer. Oh, gosh! Looking at the man, my heart starts beating quicker, and I can feel blood rushing into my face. Looking for an escape route, I remember my manners, and I look at the man, "Hello! My name is AnaBeth Aileen!"

"Are you alright, sister?" Alice asks me, and I look down. Shaking my head, the Hatter sets me down on the table.

"Thank you, sir," I tell him, and I sink to my knees. The Hatter grabs Alice's hand and walks her up on top of the table to where he was sitting. Shakenly, I stand up, but I can't move any further. Without realizing, the Hatter walks back and gingerly picks me up, "Thank you again."

"You are certainly welcome," he says to me and sets me down next to my sister. This strange feeling stays in my stomach. I don't mind keeping this feeling, but when I was with Lowell I felt like this at first, but it disappeared after a few months of crying, when I found him with Margaret.

"You are late, naughty," he says to my sister, as he sets a few books on the chair to his right. Once there is enough books on the chair, he pats the books and we jump on them. Alice and I are able to sit at the table now, but I'm just glad that I can finally sit. Besides the butterfly feeling in my stomach, my entire body is exhausted, and my brain feels light headed.

He starts talking, but I can't hear anything. His voice sounds like his face is covered with a pillow, but it's not just him. Everybody's voice sounds muffled, and it's driving me further into the bottomless hole that's called madness. Can't take it anymore, I cover my ears with my hands and start rocking back 'n' forth. I can feel a hand gently on my back and start rubbing it in circles. I think I can hear Alice calling my name, but then the muffled noise returns.

Suddenly, my body is lifted into the air, and I open my eyes. The Hatter has me in his hand, and he looks worried. After what feels like forever, I finally blackout. Everything around me is pitch black and there is no noise. Panic starts to bubble inside me, and I start running around, but no matter the amount of running I do, it is still the same pitch blackness. Finally, the Hatter's voice starts echoing through the blackness, and my heart starts pounding loud inside of my chest. Oh! My heart is hurting, because the more I think about him, the more I hear him, and my heart beats even faster. Is this love? My heart never beats faster when I was with Lowell. How am I even in love with this man? I only just met him.

"Is she alright?" the Hatter asks someone in his soft, yet sweet voice. I close my eyes and listen to his voice. Not so surprisingly, the Hatter's voice has a calming effect on me.

"Honestly, I don't know," Alice replies to the Hatter, "She has been ill ever since we came here, and she has been becoming mad."

Before they can speak further, I hear a trumpet and a hound barking. I try to move, but this time my body doesn't move or can't move is the better word. Hearing the Hatter say here, I hear Alice gurgle like she is drinking something. Then I hear a thud and the tea pot lid clatters to a close. Quickly, but gently I feel my body being lifted into the air. After a few seconds, my body is softly put on fabric that feels like a hammock, but that doesn't make sense. At what has happened so far, I wouldn't be surprise if I am in a hammock.

I have to open my eyes, but they feel like cement. Please, I want to open my eyes, I want to see the Hatter. With all of my willpower, I open my eyes, but doing all of that has left me with no strength at all. Not even being able to move my head, I look around at my surroundings with my eyes. From the looks of the place, it looks like I'm in a pocket. I guess the Hatter put me in his pocket. Ah! He is so sweet, and he smells like the grass, along with the trees. Oh my god! Stop day dreaming, something is happening, and I am seriously thinking about the Hatter's personality and what he smells like.

Focusing on sound alone, I hear a new baritone voice along with the sound of something walking underneath the table. The thing that is walking underneath the table makes the dishes clatter and move the table. I can't hear the man's voice over the clattering of the dishes. All of a sudden, I hear the Hatter make a noise like someone has their arm around his neck, making him unable to breathe. Don't you dare hurt him, whoever you are! Suddenly, the voices of the Hatter, March Hare, and Mallymkun starts to sing a song that is like twinkle, twinkle little star, but it has different lyrics. The sound of the noise from the creature underneath the table gets closer. Without a warning, the sound of a dog sniffing takes the place of the dishes clattering.

"Off with Bloody Big Head," the Hatter whispers to the dog. The dog stops sniffing, and the dog starts barking. Its barking quickly fades away, and I can finally hear the new man's voice. He tells others to follow the hound, and says to the tea party guests that they are all mad. The March Hare retorts and it makes me smile. I hear a cup break and the sound of horse hooves retreating. Next thing I hear is the tea pot lid open and then instantly close.

"Pardon," I hear him say, "Hold on a second." He opens the lid again and grabs something. I start to hear scissors snipping, and the movement of fabric tells me that the Hatter is making something. A few seconds later, he opens the lid again and says try it on for size. There is a soft knock and the lid is open again. I hear the movement of the Hatter's arm and he says he likes it. Please, don't forget that I'm here.

"Where is AnaBeth?" Alice asks the Hatter, and he lightly takes my body out of his pocket. The light of day makes me squint my eyes, but that's all I can do, because my body still will not move. Alice rushes towards me, but I can only move my eyes. Looking at Alice as she kneels next to me, I realize that she is wearing a new light blue dress on. I guess that is what the Hatter was making. She seems to be even smaller than me now.

"AnaBeth! Are you alright?" she asks me, but I just stare at her, "Can you speak?" I move my eyes from right to left and she seems to understand. Alice lightly taps my cheeks and it slowly brings feeling back into them. After a minute, I can feel my mouth again, and I open my mouth.

"Feeling would come back to me quicker if you actually slap me," I tell her with a smile. Feeling returns to my body quickly, which makes me want to puke, but I keep it in. With Alice's help, I stand up and look at the Hatter. Ignoring my feelings of love, I walk right up to him.

"Who was that man?" I ask him. Looking into his eyes, he looks back down at me with kind eyes. If I'm not mistaken, there is also something else in those eyes. Love. I'm not the only one that feels this, but I still find it impossible. Love at first sight is impossible.

"He is the right hand man of the Red Queen, or what we like to call her Bloody Big Head," he replies and takes off his hat. Setting it on the table, "Your carriage awaits."

"A hat?" Alice says as she stands next to me.

"Oh, yes. A hat is the best way to get around," he says and Alice gets on the brim. I look at the hat suspiciously, and it has nothing to do with the hat, but more with how I am going to stay on, "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing," I reply, but I still don't get on, "It's just that I am worried about getting on a hat, when I am not in a stable condition. "Instantly after I say that, he softly takes my body and puts me in his chest jacket pocket. Standing up, I can see over the pocket, and I smile in relief, "Thank you, Hatter."

He places his hat back on his head with Alice on it, and he stands up. I feel a pierce gaze on me, and I look up to see Mallymkun staring daggers into me. She tries to go with us, but the Hatter stops her. Why does she hate me so much? That look that she gave me moments ago was like she was killing me in her mind. I didn't do anything, except banter with her. The Hatter takes us away from the tea party and pass the house. I close my eyes and sway with his movement.

Idiotically, I fall asleep and the minutes turn into an hour. Slowly opening my eyes, I look over the pocket and find that we are in an opening surrounded by dead trees. The trees look like they were in a fire a long time ago. Actually, this whole place looks like it was in a fire a long time ago. There is nothing that is green, and the ground looks like nothing has grown in a hundred years. When the dust settles down, I notice that there is runes and ashes of long forgotten houses.

Hatter puts Alice on a dead tree stump in the center of all of this and starts to walk away. Before I can say anything, Alice yells to him saying that he can't leave her there.

"You are not going to slay," the Hatter says in a whisper, but something is different this time. This time he starts speaking in a Scottish accent, and he sounds very menacing. Looking up at his face, I notice that his skin around his eyes starts growing darker, and his eyes turn from a grass green to a golden yellow. After looking back down, I notice that his clothes are growing darker too. Walking back to Alice gracefully, he sits on his knees and tells my sister that she is missing something. The Hatter pokes Alice's stomach softly and tells her that she is missing something in there. I defiantly know I missed something while I was asleep.

"Do you hear something?" the Hatter whispers and tilts his head to the right. Faintly, the bark of the hound from earlier is heard, and the Hatter quickly grabs Alice.

"Hatter, you can put Alice in here with me," I call up to him, and he seems to have heard me, because he puts Alice in the pocket with me. Holding on to her tightly, we wait for whatever is going to happen to happen. He keeps running through the dead forest until it gives way to living and healthy trees. Finally, he stops running, when the trees stop at a river, and I look back up at Hatter. I can tell he is thinking, and he has such an adorable face when he is thinking. Oh my god! Stop thinking about that and focus on the danger at hand. The Hatter makes a decision and takes off his hat. Taking out Alice, he puts her on the brim and tells her to hold on tight. With all of his strength, he tosses the hat across the river, and right at that moment the red card soldiers from earlier start surrounding us.

"Down with Bloody Big Head!" the Hatter shouts at the card soldiers, and in a lower voice he tells me, "I'm sorry that I couldn't put you on the hat too. There wasn't enough time, and you are going to have to go to the red queen's castle with me."

"It's alright, Hatter," I whisper back to him and my heart aches from the sad tone in his voice. It is truly alright that I got caught with him, because as long as I am with him, I feel safe. I sound like a love sick puppy dog, but I can't help it. I am truly in love with this mad man that I just met. This is love at first sight.


	4. Chapter 4

Mad Hatter's POV

It is like any other day full of tea and cake. The March Hare is crazy as usual which is very amusing when there isn't any other amusement. We are talking about many things that people outside of our little group, which consists of myself, March Hare,  
/

and Mallymkun, would think is crazy, but that is what we do best. Right as we finish some more tea, I decide that it would be best if we have a little nap before our next tea party and he agreed. Huh, I wonder where Mallymkun went? She is usually

here with us when we have a tea party. I cross my arms over my chest and fall asleep in my arm chair, at the head of the long table.

The stirring noise of the March Hare and Mallymkun shakes me awake from my sleep. When did Mally come back and fall asleep in a tea pot? Looking over at what she is seeing, I notice two human girls and Cheshire coming towards us. Cheshire is a cowardly  
/cat that didn't help in the last battle a long time ago. Thinking about that is bring my insanity back at full force, which is not good for my friends all around me. Turning my attention back at the two girls, I instantly recognize Alice from the  
/times of seeing her as a child. She came back for us, her friends in Underland.

Smiling childishly, I stand up and walk over the table to Alice. Kneeling in front of her, I exclaim that it is her, but I hear from behind me that it is the wrong Alice, and that the rabbit brought a stupid girl too. Oh, Mally must be talking about the  
/girl next to Alice. Unfortunately, before I can do anything to ease the situation, the girl and Mally start to argue with each other. Laughing a bit, I watch this unfold until the girl lunges at Mally.

Looking at this girl closer, I notice two things that I never thought I would think about. The first thing that I notice is that this girl is very pretty, even prettier than the White Queen herself. Finally, the other thing that I notice is that this  
/girl has the same insanity level that I have. Even the March Hare doesn't have the same insanity level that I do, but this girl does. A weird butterfly feeling attacks my stomach as I keep staring at her. Snapping out of my thoughts, I realize that  
/her craziness is getting worse and that someone needs to snap her out of it.

A sudden wanting to make sure she doesn't hurt herself, I gently pick her up by the back of the indigo dress. Her beautiful liquid gold colored eyes have that deep insanity that anyone can see in mine when I lose it. The girl quickly calms down when she  
/notices me, and her face starts to blush causing me to chuckle quietly at her.

"Hello, my name is AnaBeth Aileen," she says in a cheerful voice that surprisingly sooths my entire being. Smiling at her, I lose myself in my train of thoughts that are filled with AnaBeth, while she talks to Alice. Before I think to further into this  
/situation, I set her on the table, while I grab Alice's hand and start my way across the table again. Looking back at AnaBeth, I notice that she hasn't moved from where I left her and she is now on her knees. Quickly letting go of Alice's hand, I  
/walk over to AnaBeth and gingerly pick her up.

"Thank you," her soft voice makes my heart start to soar, and I in the same level of softness reply with a soft welcome. Setting her next to her sister, I start to talk to Alice, while I place some books on top of a chair on the right side of my arm chair.

"You are late, naughty," I say, while I pat the books and both girls jump on it. During our conversation, I glance over at AnaBeth and notice that she is rocking back n' forth as she covers her ears. Poor girl, she seems to not be used to being crazy.  
/Why does my body feel this way? I barely know this woman and yet I'm concerned about her like I've known her for my entire life. Underneath the concern, there is a powerful emotion that I never experienced before and I cannot figure out if I like  
/this feeling or not. There are butterflies fluttering in my stomach and my heart starts skipping beats every time I look at her.

Without even thinking about, I calmly pick her up in my hand. Sadly, this time my touch doesn't sooth her and I ask Alice if she is alright.

"Honestly, I don't know. She has been ill ever since we came here, and she has been becoming mad," she replies to my question. I can see with my own eyes that she is mad, but it is unusual for someone to just start becoming mad. The person is usually  
/born mad, and not turn mad. Looking back down at the woman that has stolen my heart, I hear a trumpet blaring in the forest. Oh, no! That would be Bloody Big Head's card soldiers, and they are probably looking for Alice.

Quickly, I give a potion to Alice to make her shrink even further in size. Shoving her into a teapot, I lay it in my lap and gently place AnaBeth in my pocket.

After acting my usual crazy self, the queen's soldiers finally leave my tea party. Taking the tea pot out of my lap, I open the lid to only close it again, but this time very quickly. Without looking, I grab some fabric from her now too big dress, and  
/use my hat making abilities to make her a perfect size dress. Handing the dress to her, I wait until she knocks on the lid to signal that I can take her out of the pot.

"I like it," I say gleefully when I see her in her new dress. She looks around the table before looking back at me.

"Where is AnaBeth?" she asks me, and I almost smack my hand against my head. How could I temporarily forget about her, when I like her this much? Softly, I lift her out of my pocket and laid her down on the table. I notice that her eyes are open, but  
/she seems to not be able to move her body. Alice lightly slaps AnaBeth's face until she can feel her body again. My heart shatters at the poor site she is in, but I push that feeling away when she finally stands up.

I set down my top hat down onto the table, after I explain who the men were. Alice gets on the brim of the hat, but I put AnaBeth in my breast pocket. When we walk a little further into the woods past my house, my insanity level starts to rise again,  
/but this time it is safe to be more crazy then I usually am. The dark forest reminds me of what happened into the past, and I start telling the poem about the Jabberwocky. Alice seems to notice my poem, and lands on my shoulder while I continue to  
/walk.

"The poem is about you, you know," I tell her, while my voice takes on a Scottish accent.

"What do you mean?"

"It is about you slaying the Jabberwocky," I reply with all hints of cheeriness gone from my voice.

"I'm not slaying anything, so get that out of your head," she says bitterly, and I stop while my brain goes blank. What does she mean, she isn't going to slay the Jabberwocky? My anger starts rising, and I set her down on a tree stump. While I start to  
/walk away, I hear her calling behind me, and I feel movement in my pocket telling me that AnaBeth is there. I can't leave her sister here,or she might hate me. With a sigh, I turn back around and say, "You don't slay."

"You are missing something. Something in here," I kneel in front of her, and I poke a finger at her belly. Before we can talk further, I hear something in the distance that isn't just a normal forest sound, "Do you hear something?" I listen further, and  
/I recognize the distinct sound of the hound from earlier.

Grabbing Alice from the stump, I start running, but I can hear the dog chasing me.

"Hatter, you can put Alice in here!" I hear a small soft voice calling me. Mentally thanking her, I practically throw Alice into the pocket while I keep running. The dead forest trees turn into flourishing green trees, but I continue to run until I reach  
/a deep river. Making a hasty decision, I take Alice out of my pocket, but I leave AnaBeth in there, and I throw my hat, which has Alice on it, across the river onto the other river bank.

"Down with Bloody Big Head!" I yell at the card soldiers that start to surround AnaBeth and myself. Quietly telling AnaBeth I'm sorry, she reassures me that it is alright. Oh! Her soft voice makes all my worries melt away and I hide a smile of pure bliss.  
/What is this woman doing to me?


	5. Chapter 5

The Hatter warns me to stay in his pocket no matter what and to stay as quiet as I can possibly be, because I will be killed if they find me. I never realized how quiet I could be, but I guess the magic of having your life on the line can make anyone  
deathly quiet. Those red card soldiers make the Hatter walk all the way to the red queen's castle. Poor Hatter, I wish I could do something, and if I was in my normal height I would help him. I hate being this size! The soldiers put handcuffs on him,  
and the worst part came when they took us to the dungeon.

They take us to this room in the dungeon, but it isn't like an ordinary cell. This room is for a different purpose that I wish I never found out. The soldiers leave us in the room and lock the door behind them. Except before I can even get one word out,  
the door opens again and a man enters with a scary grin.

He acts so friendly in spite of the fact that his face shows something completely different. The man takes off the Hatter's jacket, which has me in it, and tosses it on the ground. Thankfully, I manage to stay inside the pocket, but unfortunately, I land  
full force on the cement floor. The jacket covers my vision, but I can still hear everything. I hear the Hatter getting tied down onto something, and the worst thing in my life happens. The man starts torturing my sweet, kind, mad hatter, and I have  
to use my willpower to hold back tears. Surprisingly, there isn't any screaming like I imagined there would be if someone was being tortured. After a few minutes, I blackout from all of the stress and pain.

Slowly, I flutter my eyes open and light is shining through a barred window. I realize that I'm no longer in the Hatter's pocket and panic strikes through my body. Another thing that I realize is that I'm not on the cement ground anymore, but on something  
that is soft compared to the cement. Looking down, I am laying on a hand, and I know this hand from anywhere. This hand looks like it has been cut, and discolored like the rest of his skin, from mercury. Quickly, looking up at the Hatter, I see his  
face smiling kindly down at me. My heart jumps up in my throat at remembering what happened earlier.

"Hatter!" I shout in happiness and sadness, I jump up and he raises his hand close to his face. Without a second to spare, I hug his face as I start to cry. Then I quickly step away from his face, "Are you alright!?"

"I'm alright," he replies and his eyes show how deep his love is for me. Just two days ago, I was still depressed over Lowell and his treachery. Look at me now. I'm in love with a man that I just met, but I know for a fact that I would give my life for  
this man. He has shown me that he will protect my life even at the cost of his own. I need to figure out what I'm going to do when all of this ends, because I don't believe that Alice and I can stay here. If I have to choose between leaving with Alice  
and staying here with the Hatter, I will gladly stay, but I need more time to think.

He pulls out one of his handkerchiefs and dabs my eyes. Sniffing, I look back at him, but I don't say anything. Last time I told a man that I loved him, he ended up breaking my heart. There is that insecurity still in me, and I just don't want that happening  
to me again. Until he tells me first, I will not tell him my love. Deciding that, I just stare at him and showing my love for him through my eyes like him.

"Are you sure?" I ask him, and he nods with a smile. His smile makes my heart skip a beat and heat rises in my cheeks. I can tell that he sees me blushing, because he looks like he is enjoying himself.

"I am truly alright," he says and he looks up towards the door. Remembering the fall on the cement, I quickly take out my pocket watch. Thankfully, the watch is not broken and it is still working. Rubbing the watch with my hand, I think back to when I  
was a child and I fell out of a tree. The pocket watch was in my pocket and it stopped working. When it broke, I had an awful feeling that the world would end if I didn't fix it. After looking through countless books on watches, I fixed the watch  
and I feared of it breaking ever since.

"What is that, AnaBeth?" my Hatter asks me, and I come back from my memories. Smiling up at him, I tell him that I had this watch ever since I was a baby. I don't know who gave it to me nor do I know who my parents are, "That's an excellent pocket watch."

"What happened after I blacked out?" I ask him, and I gently sit on his hand. He explains to me that after a while of being tortured, the man gave up when he realized that the torturing had no effect on him, "How did the torture have no effect on you?"

"Probably from the fact that I'm mad," he replies with a smile, and I laugh too. Right before we can continue the conversation, footsteps from the card soldiers start coming down the hall towards the door. With one last smile, he gently puts me in the  
chest jacket pocket again. My heart starts beating quickly from the hatter and the fear what is to come next.

Fortunately, the card soldiers take us away from the dungeon and up to the higher levels. They put handcuffs back onto him, and lead him to this grand hall with an enormous door. From the way everything is neat and clean, this must be part of the castle  
that the queen goes through. There is no one else in the hall besides the card soldiers, and us. With their spears still pointing at the Hatter, they throw open the grand doors.

All of the furniture in the hall has the color red overpowering it. There's red on the pillars on both sides of us, the red carpet is beneath us, and there is a red throne in front of us. The color red is the same shade as a heart or blood. Right behind  
the throne is huge red curtains, and finally, there is a woman, with a head that is triple a normal persons head, sitting on the throne. She has a small golden crown with small red jewels on her red hair, which is the same shade as the furniture.  
Her dress is something that Elizabeth I would wear, but there is small red heart at the bottom of the skirt.

Before I can see her further, I fall back into the Hatter's pocket, and I can't stand back up. It is so hard to stand, when the pocket is moving around from the Hatter walking. After unsuccessfully trying to stand up, I decide to listen to what happens  
instead. If they hurt him I will kick everyone's butt, and I might be killed, but as long as he is alright it doesn't matter. I feel the Hatter kneel down to the ground, and I look up at him. He has his head hanging down and looks at me for a few  
seconds. I smile encouragingly up at him, and he can't smile down, but he smiles with his eyes. He looks away towards the woman, and I can see an expression of surprise briefly on his face. Taking the chance, I glance over the pocket and I notice  
another woman sitting next to the woman on the throne. Oh my god!

The woman that is sitting next to the throne is my sister. Before Alice was an inch tall, and now she seems to be seven feet tall. She must have drank something again, because she has never been that tall before. Alice is wearing a hideous dress, and  
on her right side of the skirt is white with red hearts. The other side of the dress is red with black stripes. The top is red and black too, but it isn't stripes like the skirt. From the way the dress is I would have to say that the dress is made  
from curtains. Sister! I hope you know what you're doing, because I will not be able to protect you too.

"Where is Alice?" the woman asks in a broad voice, and from the way she spoke I can tell that she is full of herself. My Hatter lets out a crazy laugh, and looks up at the red queen. When I realize that she is the red queen, my brain starts throbbing,  
and a two words pop into my head. Not this again! Like any other word that popped into my head lately, the two words are names. Well, the two names make out one full name. Iracebeth Marmoreal is the full name and then the red queen pops back into  
my mind. My brain should stop hurting, because I piece together the name to the person, but it keeps hurting. Next the words older sister come into my head, and it starts to freak me out. This hasn't happen to me yet, before it was just names, but  
now I'm getting relations too. This is becoming way too much for me.

"I've been thinking all of the words that start with the letter m," the Hatter replies in his sweet, yet crazy voice, "Like the word Malice."

"Now, we are thinking words that start with the letter a," Iracebeth replies to him and then shouts, "Where is Alice?!"

My Hatter starts talking to her about how much he loves her enormous head which is shaped like a globe. Iracebeth becomes flattered, and the Hatter takes the opportunity to talk about his job. 'What is he doing?' My crazy lover boy gets up from his knees  
and walks up the step towards the queen. Without realizing it earlier, a man that is standing on the other side of the queen takes out his sword.

The man is wearing all black armor with a red heart shaped eye patch on his left eye. His long straight pitch black falls around his shoulders, and his black gloved hands are holding onto his long slender sword.

My Hatter convinces Iracebeth to take him on as her hat maker, because instead of getting himself beheaded, she tells the man to cut off the handcuffs. I feel like I can finally breathe, when the handcuffs are taken off of the man that I love. Thankfully,  
he doesn't draw any attention to my sister, and nobody suspects a thing. The Hatter walks in between Alice and Iracebeth, while talking about different colors for hats. Suddenly, my Hatter starts to change like he did in the forest. He slowly changes  
and the colors he was talking about start to speed up.

"Hatter!" I whisper harshly, and Alice whispers the same thing at the same time. Right after we say his name, Hatter quickly snaps out of it and everything about him brightens again. He says sorry, but the whole situation seems to not have bothered Iracebeth.  
She smiles up at him, and pretty much hires him on the spot. Hatter smiles back at the queen, and I let out a sigh of relief.

Her people show us away from the main throne room, and takes us to a smaller room with a loads of fabric. The guard handcuffs his left ankle to the long work table. He has just enough chain to walk around the table, but not enough to walk further than  
to the half way mark of the room. Around the table are a few mannequins, and I must say they are fucking creepy. Every furniture piece in the room is red like everything else in the castle. Well, besides the walls and floor, which are grey cement  
blocks.

Once the guards leave the room, my Hatter gently takes me out of his pocket and sets me on the wooden table. He takes his jacket off and throws it off to the side. So far that I have been with him, he never looked this excited, except when he first saw  
Alice.

"Nice work, Hatter," I tell the Hatter with genuine happiness. Walking over to the stacks of red, white, and black fabric, I jump on the smallest stack and let out a sigh of bliss. Without having to look, I know that the Hatter is snickering as he watches  
me, "What? The fabric is soft and comfy."

"I can tell," he replies, and picks up a roll of red fabric. The Hatter spreads it over the surface of the table, and talking to himself more than to me says, "I missed this."

"When was the last time you made a hat?" I ask out of curiosity. He shakes his head like he wakes up from remembering past memories.

"A long time ago," he says with a smile towards me. I smile back and jump off the fabric.

"What can I do to help?" I ask him, but he shakes his head again.

"I don't need any help, and besides you should rest."

"Says the man that was tortured just a few hours ago. I know that you think that I have no experience with making hats, and you're correct," I say to him, as I walk towards him and stop right next to his hand on the fabric, "If you show me, I can replicate  
what you show me. I have what is known as photographic memory. Please, I want to help you after everything you have done for me."

"If you really want to help me," the Hatter says, as he thinks about it. I quickly nod my head and place my small hands on his right hand. He smiles and looks like he appreciates my offer for help, "I guess you can grab things for me."

"Yay!" I shout in glee, and I jump up. He laughs and then looks at the red fabric before him. I run over to the stack of fabrics, and drag the cold metal scissors over to the crazy red haired man that without even trying stole my heart.

The Hatter and I made hat after hat, and by the time it was dark outside there is already a huge mountain of hats. I spent the entire time dragging tools across the table to the Hatter, and that soon drained my body of strength, but I kept dragging tools.  
I want to help this man, because he has helped me a lot, but dragging tools across the table isn't enough. Except, this is all I can do and so I will do my best. Unfortunately, all of the dragging made me grow very tired, and sometime during the night  
I fall asleep.

Once again, I wake to the sunlight piercing my closed eyes. My body feels very stiff and every muscle aches from all of the dragging yesterday. Momentarily, I forget about everything that has happened for the last few days, and I just focus on the thought  
of sleeping longer. Uh! The aching hurts so much that I barely move, and I moan a little bit involuntarily when I move my head slightly to my left.

"Are you alright, AnaBeth?" I hear a man's voice that brings back all of my memories of Underland. Thinking about the Hatter, I forget about my pain and quickly sit up. Sharp unbearable pain shots through my body, and I take in a sharp breath while flopping  
back down on the table. Realizing that my head didn't hit a hard surface, I feel a soft pillow underneath my head. When I realize the pillow, I look down to see a small blanket over my body. Finally, I look over to the Hatter, and I can see worry  
in his eyes.

"When did you make the blanket and pillow?" I ask out of pure surprise.

"I made them when I saw you shaking in your sleep," he replies and my love for him grows deeper than I thought was possible. I never expected to fall in love with a man that is crazy in this senseless world. As if remembering something, he looks into  
my eyes with worry again, "Are you alright? I heard you moan just now."

"I'm fine," I tell him, but when I move my arm, without thinking, I wince from the pain shooting through that limb. He looks at me with sadness and pain I never want to see from him again. When he looked at me like that, I feel guilt and sadness from  
lying to him.

"I know you are lying," he says with sadness, "Please, tell me what's wrong, AnaBeth. I don't want you in pain nor do I want you to feel like you have to lie to me."

"Everything hurts," I say with a sigh, and I decide that I'm not going to lie to him again, "I can't move or sharp pain hits me."

The sadness and the pain stays in his eyes as he ever so gently picks me up. Surprisingly, no pain hits me as I lay on his soft yet hard palm. I know from the look in his eyes he is blaming himself, and I hate that he thinks this, because I love him too  
much for him to think that.

"This is not your fault, Hatter," I say with a gentle and loving voice, "I am the one that wanted to help you. I am the one that pushed myself beyond my limits, but I did that, because I wanted to help you as much as I can."

"I don't want you to help me," he says, and I'm about to protest when he continues to speak, "I know you want to continue to help me, but I need you to understand that I hate seeing you in this state. It pains me to see you in this much pain, because  
of me."

"Okay, Hatter," I reply with sadness, but it soon goes away seeing how happy and relieved he looks.

"You should call me by my actual name," he says with delight as he lays me back on the pillow. The Hatter puts the red blanket over my body as he tells me his name, "My name is Tarrant Hightopp."

"That's a wonderfully crazy yet proper name," I tell him with a smile. The warmth from the sun and from the blanket starts to make me feel drossy. No, I can't fall asleep and leave Tarrant alone! My eyes start closing, but then I open them wide again  
as I fight against the waves of sleep.

"It is alright, AnaBeth," he says softly, as he softly rubs my head with his finger, "You deserve to rest and heal. I'll be alright while you sleep."

"No, you deserve to rest, Tarrant," I reply as I shake my head from side to side, "You are the one that got tortured, and the one that worked through the night. Tarrant, you are the one that needs to rest."

"That is true, but you need to remember that I'm crazy," he says with a smile, while he keeps rubbing my head, "I'm not tired and I'm used to it."

"You are an amazing man, Tarrant," I say as I drift off to sleep.


	6. Update

**Hello, my amazingly wonderful readers. =-) I hope you are all having awesome holidays. I will update this story sometime, but I have no idea how to continue this story. I just don't know how to get to the Alice Escaping part. If any of you dear readers have any(and I mean any) suggestions please leave me some helpful reviews. Also I just want to say that I just love your reviews and I'm grateful for them. The reviews leave the feeling that I am doing a good job and it isn't just my friends saying that I'm good, just to be nice. Anyway, if you have any suggestions don't be afraid to leave some reviews. I really appreciate it. Thanks, you guys! :-p AND happy holidays!:-)**


	7. Chapter 7

I watch as AnaBeth sleeps peacefully, and I stop what I am doing. Without even realizing it, my heart starts beating faster the longer I stare at her. Being as gentle as when I make my beautiful hats, my index finger starts to stroke her beautiful midnight blue hair. Her hair is as soft as the most expensive fabric in this entire castle. This woman that I haven't known for that long is going to be the death of me, because I should be making hats for Bloody Big Head, yet here I am stroking this woman's hair. Sighing, I pull my hand away from her and turn my full attention to the hat that requires my full thinking process.

After an hour, I have assembled close to twenty hats that vary from red to black to white. Wiping my forehead with my white sleeves, I take a glimpse at the angel sleeping next to my work station. Worry starts to sneak into my crazed filled brain for only one reason. AnaBeth has not stirred nor even moved for this entire hour. Before I can check on her, I hear loud metallic footsteps heading towards this room and panic fills my body. Quickly, I take a sheet of blood red fabric and drape it over the small figure of AnaBeth. Please, stay asleep until I get back, because I cannot lose you too, my crazy angel.

The wooden door slams open and a couple of card soldiers enter my workroom. One of the soldiers takes the medium size pile of hats, while the other soldier gets rid of the ankle cuff. This is going to be hilarious, because none of these hats will cover the queen's whole entire head. Only these wonderful hats will cover a part of her head. Finally, after a couple of minutes I am taken out of the room with a slam of the door behind us.

The Red Queen has tried hat after hat, and so far, she doesn't like any of my creations. How can anyone not like the hats that I make? While I start to put another hat on her globous head, one of her follower's nose falls off her face and onto the floor next to the queen's dress. Hahahaha, it seems that some of these people have not been completely honest. Unfortunately, I don't want a beheading on my hands so I must inform her of her nose problem without letting the queen know what has happened.

"There seems to be quite a smell in here," I add in a whisper, so only she can hear, "You seem to have dropped something." Thankfully, she seems to have gotten the hint and quickly puts the nose back on with one hand. Looking around at the other followers, I notice that another person, a man this time, has stitched a huge stomach underneath his clothes. This is hilarious for me considering that the queen has people lying right underneath her nose.

While I continue to laugh and the queen tells her followers that I am mad, another one of the queen's followers enters and whispers something in the big head's ear.

"OFF WITH HER HEAD!" she screams, which scared me into jumping a couple of inches. The soldiers take me back into the hat room, and puts the ankle cuff back onto me before leaving. Quickly, I hurry over to the table and throw away the fabric to see my sleeping angel.

"AnaBeth, AnaBeth," I start to shake her awake, "Wake up, please. Wake up."

Slowly, she starts to open those beautiful gold eyes and my heart feels like it has melted. There is no doubt within this crazy mind of mine that I am utterly in love with this woman. Finally, I figure out what all those emotions inside of me are. Turning my attention back to the sleeping beauty in front of me, a soft smile graces my face and my heart starts to beat faster.


	8. Escaping But Leaving Behind

I feel someone shaking me from my aching slumber, and a soft voice telling me to wake up. Whimpering that I want to sleep longer, I try to move away from the person, but alas that didn't work and the shaking persisted. With a ton of reluctance, I slowly open my eyes to see the horrible person that would wake me up. Oh, it is just Tarrant that is waking me up. I just realize that I wouldn't mind getting woken up by him, but I will still have to get used to it. A soft smile is on his face and a faraway look in his eyes.

"How long have I slept for, Tarrant?" I groggily ask him, while I slowly stand up. Walking over to him, I finally give him a loving smile as I sit on his open palm. Holding onto his thumb, he lifts me up until I am leveled with his face.

"You only slept for a couple more hours," he says sweetly, with a little crazy laugh at the end of his sentence. My loving smile switches with a happy smile as I start to laugh too. Glancing around I notice that the pile of hats is nowhere to be found, and I look back at him with a questioning look in my eyes. He seems to realize what I am confused on, because he explains to me what happened while I slept. Unfortunately, the splitting headache that I have been getting since we arrived at Underland returns. Surprisingly, this time no names or anything pops into my head, but the pain remains. I start to rock back and forth, holding my porcelain head in my delicate hands.

"What is wrong, AnaBeth?" the Hatter's voice creeps through my pain clouded head. My voice is lost inside my throat, so I simply shake my head violently side to side, and rock faster. While I am rocking, I feel the hand I am sitting on move towards his direction. I feel a pressure around me, and his sweet, nature smelling scent envelopes me causing my whole body to feel safe. That's when I realize that he is hugging me. Let me repeat that, HE IS HUGGING ME! If it isn't for the pain still in my head, I would be dying of both embarrassment and happiness, because this is spectacular. Thankfully, the pounding pain just turns into a dull thumping, which I'll take any day. With the best of my ability, I spread my arms out and hug him back. He pulls away and looks down at me.

"Are you all right, AnaBeth?" he whispers down towards me, and I nod the tiniest bit. I try to smile, but the smile falls flat and only a pain filled smile appears. Unable to avoid his eyes anymore, I look up and his eyes are a mixture of sadness and love. Seeing him sad is so hard to watch, so I push through the pain and give him a huge smile.

"What are we going to do now, Tarrant?" I sweetly ask him, and he sets me back down on the work table. Suddenly, I remember someone very important to me before Tarrant. Opening my eyes wide I shout out, "Alice! Have you seen Alice?! Do you know if she is all right?!"

Sadly, he shakes his head no and my heart starts racing. Oh, my God! How could I forget my own little sister? What kind of sister am I? I was so focused on my puppy love with this crazy Hatter and I completely forgot my own sister. Panic strikes through my entire mind and body, while I start to pace up and down the table. Oh, how I wish I could be back to my normal size, but I don't think that I happening any time soon. Tarrant doesn't even stop me or try to reassure me, and that might be because he knows it will not help me. I just want my sister, and I want out of this horrible castle. My pain from the headache and from all the strain last night is completely gone, because my brain is focused only on my little sister. The same little sister that is trapped inside this castle that's owner wants her beheaded for some unknown reason.

"Tarrant, I'm afraid," I stop and focus on the man that has my heart, "she can be anywhere, and we can't leave this room. Alice could be hurt or that nasty queen found out that, that tall woman is Alice. Or worse yet, she is going to find out that you have been hiding and protecting Alice. Tarrant, I cannot take all of this stress and worrying."

Finally, he looks down at me with caring eyes, and strokes my head with his discolored index finger. He doesn't say anything, but he does do his crazy laugh that can make anyone laugh too. A smile graces my lips, while I continue to stare at him. The Mad Hatter stops laughing and looks at me with adoring eyes like I said the most adorable thing in the entire world.

"Oh, AnaBeth," he says with a hint of a laugh in his voice, "You do not need to worry about that. I can handle myself and from what I remember about your sister, she can handle herself too. My dear AnaBeth, you just need to worry about making sure you survive in this place. What I keep worrying about is you dying in this castle, and I can't bear to think about it," he keeps stroking my head, and I think about what he said.

"Maybe, you are right, but it isn't in my nature to worry about myself. I am used to worry about others and helping others," I whisper more to myself then to Tarrant, but he still hears it none of the less. Looking up at him, I say in my normal voice, "Besides, you don't need to worry about me, because how can I get caught when I am this small. I mean look at me, I'm like three inches tall."

Before we can talk further, the door bursts open with a loud bang. A shriek erupts from my throat, and Tarrant's hand slams in front of me so the person wouldn't be able to see me. A voice that I thought I wouldn't hear so soon comes from the doorway, and quickly heads toward us.

"I have it," my sister says excitedly, and both the Hatter along with myself feel relieved that it is just her. He moves his hand away so I can see my gigantic seven foot five-inch sister. What is she talking about? Looking at her hand, I realize that she is carrying a good-looking sword. My head starts throbbing, and the name Vorpal Sword. This fantastic silver with some decorations on it is called the Vorpal Sword. Another key piece of information that pops into my mind is that, that sword can end the Jabberwocky. Don't know what the Jabberwocky is, but if it needs to get killed then it is probably not a good thing. Probably something that I don't ever want to meet in a dark alleyway.

"Where did you find it, sister?" I ask her, and she looks down at me with a surprise look on her face. Almost dropping the sword, she picks my tiny body up and starts hugging me. The throbbing goes away, and I hug my younger sister that is bigger than me. Wow, I can't wait until we are both back to our regular sizes.

"Are you all right, sister?" she asks me, when she finally let's go of me. Nodding my head, I go back to my earlier question, and she explains briefly that she found it outside of the castle. Okay, I'm going to give her a stern talking to when this is all over.

Coming back to the present situation, Tarrant puts his shackled foot on the arm chair and we try to figure out a way of getting rid of the chain. Taking the obvious solution, my sister raises the sword over her head and warns the Hatter to watch out, but he holds up his hands.

"No, you can't use it on the chain," he exclaims frantically, while Alice looks at him like he is crazy, which he is. Oh, Alice, did you forget that he is crazy? That is the reason he is called the Mad Hatter. When the sword is lowered to the ground, Tarrant sighs and looks briefly over to me, before focusing back on my sister, "That sword is to only be used to kill the Jabberwocky, and not for anything else."

Unfortunately, before we can think of anything else, loud, and fast footsteps sound like they are heading towards us. With the door, still being open I lean over to see who is coming down the hallway. The black armored man from earlier is running down the hallway, and I let out a squeak in horror. My Hatter hears my squeak and looks out into the hallway to see the man as well. His dark, crazier side starts to come out a little bit and grabs the dress mannequin that is next to the chair.

"Go, you need to take the Vorpal sword to the white queen," he shouts at her, and he is still being careful as to not say her name. While they bicker about her leaving, I turn around and start to run around the table to find something to help the Hatter. Mallymkun rushes into the room just as the man also enters the room. He pulls out his sword and tries to attack Alice, but thankfully Tarrant intervenes. Mallymkun starts to become afraid for Alice's safety, while I am afraid for Tarrant's safety. A few moments ago, the mannequin has been helping, but now he is also going to use some perfume that he found in the room. Before he can spray it into his eyes, Mallymkun breaks down about the fact that Alice hasn't left yet.

"Run, Alice!" she quickly covers her mouth up, but the damaged has been done. The man looks over at Alice with a creepy, killer smirk on his face and repeats her name. Hatter becomes panicky and tells her to run before turning back to the fight. Right as she is about to leave, he shouts one more thing for her to do.

"Take AnaBeth with you!" she stops in the doorway and quickly grabs me. I scream the Hatter's name, while hitting Alice's hand with my small hands, but it doesn't change anything. No! I don't want to leave Tarrant by himself, because who knows what will happen if I leave the Mad Hatter alone. Especially, after right now, because that man knows that Tarrant knew that Alice was here the whole time. Oh, Alice! Why can't you leave me here?

"Alice, let me down! Please, Alice, I want to stay here with him," I shout out, but she will not listen to me and continues to run through the castle. Eventually, we get outside into the courtyard of the castle, and Alice tells me to be quiet at this point. Fighting against this giant woman while being only three inches tall is useless, so I decide to just sulk, while also trying to keep my empty stomach from vomiting up dust.

Alice stops in the middle of the courtyard, and I glance around to notice that we are getting surrounded by card soldiers with their darn spears. We are both looking around to find an exit from the soldiers, but so far, they are doing a good job keeping us here. Turning around, we see that the black armor man exits the castle and terror strikes through me. What did he do to Tarrant? Is he okay, is he hurt? Those questions start to plague my mind, and I just want to scream at the man. If I was only taller than I am now, I would be trying to attack this man.

"Oh, Alice!" he calls innocently, while he keeps walking towards my younger sister. A low growl, well a growl that humans can make, erupts in my throat the more he comes towards us. He better leaves my baby sister alone, before I go into protective overdrive. No one likes me when I become overprotective big sister, and I don't really like it either, but I'll do it if it means that I protect the people that I love.

"You better stay away from my baby sister," I yell at him, and he looks down at me briefly, but I think he believes that I am no threat, because he looks back at my sister. With a grunt of annoyance, I continue to watch the soldiers, while my sister aims the Vorpal Sword at the man. What is she doing? Didn't we just tell her that, that sword is to only be used to slay the Jabberwocky and nothing else?

Before Alice must start fighting this man, a loud roar is heard before something charges through the soldiers toward us. Oh, my lord, the Bandersnatch is helping us get out of this horrid place. I guess I know what my sister was doing, while I was making lovey dovey eyes at Tarrant. Bring back something that happened the first time we encountered the Bandersnatch, I tilt my head up towards my sister's arm to find the scratches totally gone. That is something I can check off on things I don't need to worry about any more.

Quickly as possible, Alice jumps onto it's back and we take off through the other soldiers. Within minutes, we are riding past the enemies and exit the blood red castle. We keep riding, but I look back at the castle and memories of Tarrant hug my mind. Stinging pain hits my eyes, and I taste salty water on my lips. It starts getting harder to breathe, and I raise a hand to my cheek to feel cold tears streaming down my face.

Oh, Tarrant, please be okay. I don't want to lose you, because I love you too much to lose you. Wow, I finally admitted to myself that I am in love with this man. This admittance of love only makes me even more worried for his safety.


	9. Mystery Since Birth

We arrive at the white castle within a couple of hours, and by now my tears have dried up from the wind. The smell of sweet flowers, mostly roses overpower my sense of smell. Everything at the white castle is as what you expect from the title. From the pathway to the flowers and trees to the castle itself is completely pure white, so pure white that snow would either blend in with the surrounding area or feel disgraceful for not being even the same shade as this place. The only different color in this entire court is the bright green grass and hedges. The sky is clear and bright unlike the red castle where everything was a desert with goldish eerie skies.

The Bandersnatch starts to slow down to a trot instead of the running it was originally doing. When we get inside the castle, I am going to fill my empty belly with food. I mean, I'm going to wait an hour or two, because I still feel like I am going to vomit, but I still want food. Glancing up, because I spend the time with my eyes close and down, I notice a beautiful woman in front of the castle. I'm going to assume she is the white queen, because she is wearing an elegant white crown on her head.

Underneath her crown is waist length pure white hair, and pale skin. Her skin looks like it is made from like snow or something, because her skin is super pale. She has soft purple eye shadow around her warm, friendly gray eyes. Along with the eyeshadow, she has dark purple lipstick that surprisingly works with her look. Unsurprisingly, she has on a pure white ballgown with gray snowflakes. The queen is moving her hands in delicate patterns and waves, while she waits for us to approach her.

The Bandersnatch stops a few feet away from the queen, and Alice, along with myself, get off from its back. It is like a huge dog mutant, because it is acting just like a dog. Anyway, I look back at the queen and guess what happens. The throbbing in my head comes back, but this time it brings me some information about this queen. Her name is Mirana Marmoreal, and she is ten years younger than her sister, the red queen. This castle is called Marmoreal as well, and she doesn't hurt or kill any living creature. I'm thankful that Alice is still caring me, because I don't think I will be able to walk at all.

"Your Majesty," Alice says and bows while holding out the sword for her to take. I muster up a small bow of the head, but it is kind of hard to do when you are in someone's hand. Looking back up at Mirana, I notice that she looks ecstatic about having the Vorpal Sword in her hands again.

We follow her to the throne room, where a sudden realization occurred to me. I haven't really seen anyone yet in this castle, besides the queen and the white rabbit, who is currently doing an errand for the queen. Mirana places the Vorpal Sword with the rest of the armor that is by the throne. Personally, I like the look that the suit of armor has, because it is simple yet elegant. Unfortunately, my train of thought turns down a darker path with Tarrant not being here.

Before my thoughts can get even darker, I notice that we are moving into a different room. As we are walking down some hallways, the white queen asks me for my name and I tell her. She seems interested with the fact that I am here in Underland with Alice, and not just Alice by herself. Wow, it really must have been an accident for me to fall down the rabbit hole with Alice, because Mirana is the second person to be surprise that I am here also.

Right as Mirana enters the open doorway to what I presume to be the kitchen, a green substance is flying towards the queen, but she ducks down before it hits her. To my surprise is how calming she is and just keeps moving into the room. Glancing into the kitchen, I realize that the creature that threw the green substance is none other than the March Hare. Well, there goes my happy demeanor and here come the tears.

Alice drags her finger through the green substance that is on the white door, and tries it to only tell the Hare that it needs more salt. Being just as crazy as my Hatter, the Hare takes the salt shaker and throws it at the door. By then Alice and I have already move away from the door, and walk over to a table with a lot of scientific equipment. Finally, my sister sets me down onto the table, but I am not stupid enough to mess with any of the equipment.

"What are you making, Your Majesty?" I ask her, as I watch her put some horrific ingredients in the equipment. For example, one of the ingredients looks like a dead person's finger, and I pray that it isn't an actual dead person's finger. She doesn't reply until she spits into the mixture and is still mixing the ingredients together.

"I am making a potion that will turn both of you back to your original sizes," she replies with a smile. Her soft, kind voice beats her sister's loud, and annoying voice any day. WAIT! This is a concoction that I am supposed to drink and she just spit in it. Oh, if it isn't for the fact that I want to spend time with the Hatter in my normal size, I would not drink that whatsoever. Audibly gulping, I reluctantly take the small cup of the potion and drink a little bit of it. My body starts to grow larger, and I jump of the table, but I continue to grow even while I am in the air. In other words, by the time my feet touch the ground I am back to my full five foot five-inch height. I am so happy that I literally jump onto Mirana and squeeze her until I realize that she can't breathe.

"Sorry," I give a small smile to her, when I look down at myself to make sure my clothes are still there. Thankfully, my clothes are still there, and I look back at my sister. Her clothes are there too, but her clothes are too big for her now. Running towards her, I grab her into a bear hug and squeeze the life out of her as well. Surprisingly, her earl gray tea smell that always accompanies her is still there after everything that has happened so far. Remembering something, I quickly search through my pockets until my hand encounters cold gold metal. The gold pocket watch is still in my pocket even after all the running and sleeping.

The white queen takes my right hand and my sister left hand. She leads us away from the kitchen and to a place so we can get some dresses to wear. I end up wearing a grayish-whitish dress slash robe looking outfit with delicate gold embroidery. My dark sapphire blue hair is curled into big soft curls. This is the first time where I am willingly wearing a light-colored outfit, and let me just say I can work this outfit. This outfit emphasizes all my curves, and I am just adoring this dress slash robe. If only Tarrant is here, then this would be a great moment out of all these somewhat horrid memories.

Sighing, I walk onto a balcony that is on top of the great hall. The balcony overlooks the entrance to the castle, and I can also see the road that the Bandersnatch arrived on. Slowly, tears roll down my face, and I cover my eyes with my hands. My body starts shaking from the sobbing, and I can only be thankful that I cry very quietly. Before I even know it, I have been standing at the balcony for a few hours and the sun has set long ago. Unfortunately, I am still crying for Tarrant, when I feel someone place their hand on my shoulder. Thinking that it is Alice, I hug the person and cry on their shoulder. Instead of the earl gray tea smell that my sister has, I smell vanilla and roses, which is telling me that this is not Alice.

"Why are you crying, AnaBeth?" a delicate voice that belongs to the white queen asks me. I simply shake my head from side to side, and she starts patting my back to comfort me. I like this queen then the other queen, because she stays quiet and patiently waits until I can't cry anymore and only whimpers escape my throat. She gently pushes me away to arm's length and stares at me expectantly.

"I'm crying, because I am worried for the Mad Hatter. He could be dead right now, and I wouldn't have been able to tell him how I felt," I explain to her in a broken voice. A knowing gleam shines in her eyes after everything I said, and she gives me a gentle, knowing smile.

"AnaBeth, do you have feelings for the Mad Hatter?" I whisper a quiet yes to her question, and her knowing smile changes to a happy one. Suddenly, she takes me in her arms in a giant bear hug and her happiness is radiating from her entire beings. What is going on, right now? Releasing me from her grasp, she clasps both of her very pale hands together and looks at me, "Oh, AnaBeth, this is wonderful. I don't think you have anything to worry about!"

Before I can ask her, what she means, my sister comes onto the balcony wearing a white dress slash robe. Those two-start talking, and I just tune them out, because in all honest I can only really think of Tarrant now. Trying to distract myself, I take out the gold pocket watch and focus on it. Like I said before it is gold, but I notice something that I haven't notice before. On the lid of the watch is a beautifully engraving of what looks like gears. Turning the watch, there is no engraving on the back, and there isn't anything on the back. After I turn it over again, I press the button on the top of the watch, and it slowly pops open. The glass inside of it is made of crystal, and I can tell that someone took a great amount of time creating this piece of art. Inside of the lid, there is some words engraved in it:  
style="font-style: italic; font-size: 16pt;"To Dimer, The Most Special Baby in The Universe.Dimer? I always wonder if that is my actual name, but then I remind myself that I do remember my name being AnaBeth. Maybe, it is my actual last name or a pet name? I don't really know, but I want to know who gave me this watch. The second's handle ticks by, and I lose myself in my thoughts.

Snapping out of my head, I look around the balcony for the queen and my sister, but they are both gone. Huh, was I really that out of it that I didn't hear them leave? Sighing, I close the pocket watch and put it back in the dress pocket. I lean against the railing and look at the starry night sky. It is always amazing to watch the millions of sparkling stars with the moon in the center of them all. While I am thinking this, I feel a presence to the side of me, and I glance over to stop breathing. My eyes are wide open, and my mouth goes dry. After a minute, I shake my head and tackle the person to the ground, while weeping in joy. My Tarrant is here and alive.


	10. Confessions

"Hello, AnaBeth," he whispers with a mad laugh at the end, "I'm glad to see you in your normal height."

Instead of answering, I continue to just hang onto him like a koala. Just taking in his scent, I start to calm down enough to pull away so I can look him in the eyes. Oh! Only being away from him for almost a whole day, and I feel like I haven't seen  
him for a week. An overwhelmingly desire to tell him how I feel makes all my words get caught in my throat. Sighing, I slowly stand up and help him off the ground too. His gaped two front teeth are showing in his smile, and he looks out towards the  
sky.

"When did you get here, Tarrant?" I ask, while I try to control my racing heart and rapid breathing. Leaning against the railing, I take a mental picture of this moment of the Hatter also leaning against the railing in his usual attire, but he doesn't  
have his top hat. Still smiling, he looks over to me and says in a gentle voice,

"I got here a few minutes earlier, but you were so deep in your thoughts that I decided to leave you alone." I get slightly angry with him, because he could have saved me some heartache a couple of minutes earlier then he did. Breathing out, I give him  
a loving smile and turn towards the stars. Nodding my head, my mind starts to think a mile a minute with how to confess to him. A masculine hand lands on my shoulder, giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze. Looking over at him, I notice that he is staring  
at me, but instead of feeling creeped out or anything, I feel love and happiness.

"AnaBeth, I know you might be angry with me, but I did what I thought was best at the time," he whispers and my little fire of anger is mixed with sadness. Glaring at him slightly, I turn my body to face him and his hand falls from my shoulder.

"Do you know how worried and upset I was, Tarrant?" I somewhat yell at him, and his green eyes show sadness, along with regret, but I keep going, "Do you know how much I cried, because I thought you might have died? Tarrant, I was fighting tooth and nail  
to stay with you, but I couldn't break away from my sister. Tarrant, I was afraid, because I didn't want to lose you," I finish what I say in a whisper with only sadness in my voice. My eyes fill with tears, and I stare at him, while he lets me talk  
without interrupting. As the tears start spilling down my cheeks, he engulfs me in a tight hug, and it feels like he won't ever let me go again. Laying my head on his shoulder, I continue to cry and he pets my hair with his right hand. After a minute,  
my cries to whimpers, and I move away from him, but I stay in his arms.

"Oh, AnaBeth, I told Alice to take you, because I didn't want you to die. I could not, would not, bear to watch you get beheaded and if you died, I would be plunged into eternal sadness. You might think I don't understand how you felt, but I do. I do,  
AnaBeth, to the point that I cried, because I thought that, that would be the last time I saw you. I love you too much for you to die by the hands of the red queen," he says in the sincerest way possible that for a second I think that, that isn't  
the Mad Hatter. His eyes hold such love and care that my heart gets caught in my throat, along with my breathing increases.

"Tarrant, I love you too. I love you so much that I am willing to stay here in this world," I say to him, and happiness is thrown into his eyes. He smiles lovingly, and slowly his discolored hand cups my cheek. I close my eyes and lean into his soft,  
yet rough, touch, while he gently strokes my cheek. His left hand that is on my waist, gentle pulls me closer to him, and I flutter my eyes open. I notice that our faces are close together, and he doesn't break eye contact with me. Tarrant slowly  
leans his head closer to me, and I close my eyes again. When his soft lips land on my lips, I feel like I am complete. Like there never was a Lowell and a backstabbing older sister. My world is complete, and I bet that this is what Heaven feels like.  
Quickly snapping out of my thoughts, I start to kiss Tarrant back with all the passion and love I have felt since arriving in Underland. I can feel him smiling before he starts to match the love and passion I am giving. I slowly wrap my arms around  
his neck, and my right hand starts playing with his crazy orange hair.

Slowly, we pull our faces away just so we can see each other. Smiling out of pure happiness, I can't think of any future without Tarrant Hightopp. He picks me up with his crazy laugh and swing me in a circle. I start laughing, and I throw my head back  
as I enjoy the spinning momentum. We slow down, and he eases me back onto my feet with the same crazy smile. Gently squeezing my arms, he lifts my right arm over my head and spins me around. After the twirl, he takes my hands and looks at me.

"Are you serious when you said that you would stay here with me?" he shyly asks me like I might say no. I blush by his adorableness, and I nod my head in reassurance.

"Of course, Tarrant. I love you. Why would I leave when I have the crazy man of my life here?" I say with an eyebrow raised in question. He bashfully, but crazily looks down then back up with a shrug of his shoulders. This time with more happiness than  
anything else, we kiss and just enjoy our lips on each other. A clearing of the throat breaks us from our moment.

"If you two are done for a second, I have something of Tarrant's that he might like back," the voice of the Cheshire Cat interrupts us also. Looking above the railing, we find a floating blue cat with gray and purple streaks in its fur. Thank you, Cheshire  
for stopping the kiss, note my sarcasm. My eyes widen when I realize that he is holding Tarrant's top hat, and a smile forms on my face knowing that my Hatter will be very happy having his hat back. His left-hand wraps around my waist, as he gladly  
takes his hat back. Cheshire caresses the top of the hat and says good-bye to it. He disappears as the Hatter pulls the hat closer to his chest in a protective manner.

"Cheshire loves your hat, doesn't he?" I ask with amusement in my voice. He looks at me with the same amount of amusement, and he nods his head, while laughing. With care, I slowly take the hat from him and place it on his head, "There now you look like  
the Hatter that I met a few days ago," I say with a smile, and he looks into my eyes with a smile.

Before we can kiss again, my younger sister walks onto the balcony with her own smile. She looks at us, and her look makes me blush a deep red, almost like an apple. I believe that Tarrant is oblivious to the look, because helooks at her with his  
famous crazy, yet childlike, smile. Alice looks down at his hand around my waist, and I simply bury my face into Tarrant's chest, while he laughs at my expense.

"The queen wants everyone to meet out front. She is waiting for you two," she says with a smirk, and I give her a playful glare. Alice laughs and walks off, leaving Tarrant and me alone. Turning back to the Mad Hatter, I quickly peck him on the lips and  
run off into the castle with a childlike laugh. He blinks for a second before he chases after me with a laugh of his own.


	11. Champion

Tarrant and I stand before the white queen with the rest of her subjects. Where did these people come from, because I did not see any of them the whole time I was in the castle? Standing next to Tarrant and myself are: Tweedledum along with Tweedledee, Mallymkun, Nivens McTwisp, the March Hare, the Bandersnatch, Cheshire, but I don't see Absolem anywhere. Alice is standing next to Mirana, while she is sitting on her white horse. I smile at the two, and Alice smiles back, while the white queen starts to address her subjects. My Mad Hatter snakes his hand around my waist and pulls me closer to him, which makes my smile widen even more. A feel holes being burned into the side of my head, and I glance to my side seeing Mallymkun glaring at me. Oh! Now, I get why the dormouse doesn't like me. She has a crush on the Hatter, but instead of feeling happy or anything like that, I feel bad for her, because I can tell that the Hatter only thinks of her as a friend. Giving her a sad smile, I turn back to the queen as I realize that she is asking for a champion to slay the Jabberwocky. Tarrant looks at me, and I know he wants to help the queen. So, with a heavy heart, I give him a slight nod and he stands forward saying he will be her champion. Next thing I know, the twins, the dormouse, and Cheshire also say that they can be her champion.

"Nivens," the queen says cheerfully, and the white rabbit goes up in front of everyone. Unrolling the calendar scroll, which Alice and I saw when we first arrived, the end of the calendar scroll ends right at our feet. Surprisingly, the last tidbit that the calendar shows everyone is Frabjous Day, which is the day that Alice is supposedly slaying the Jabberwocky. Everyone looks at the scroll to see if it has changed, but it still shows Alice slaying the Jabberwocky and no one else. Feeling sad for my sister, but happy that Tarrant isn't going to slay the monster, I look over at her with my sad gold eyes.

"Alice, I am so sorry, but you are the one that has to slay the monster," I say sorrowfully to her, and I see fear flicker through her facial features. She starts to back up and looks at all of us like we are crazy. Carefully so I don't scare her more, I walk towards her with my arms out and away from my body. She continues to back up from us all, and I decide to comfort her in a way. Saying in a sweet tone, "It will be all right, sister, you will have all of us by your side. I will be beside you during this entire battle, but you must kill it yourself."

She turns around and runs away, while I feel both sad and hurt that I couldn't help her calm down. Looking to my left, I notice that the queen herself also looks quite sad that Alice ran away. A pair of arms wrap around my waist, and he leans close to my ear. Whispering soothing words, the Hatter presses my body closer to him in a comforting way. Relaxing immediately, I lean my head back against his shoulder, and I continue to stare in the direction that my sister ran in. The happy demeanor that everyone had before is now completely gone and is replace with fear. While the queen tries to soothe her people, I walk out of his grasp and walk away from everyone.

Sitting on my bed in the guestroom, I put my head in my hands and think about that look that my sister had before she ran away. She looked so scared, and I couldn't make her feel calm or at least reassured. What kind of sister am I if I can't even help my baby sister? Ever since I met the Hatter, I have stopped worrying about my sister and that makes me feel bad. Even though I feel guilty that I didn't worry about my sister as much as I should have, I would not change anything that I did, because I fell in love with the Hatter. Oh, this use to be easier before we fell down the rabbit hole.

A soft knock at the guest room door is in the background of all my thoughts, but I don't really acknowledge the knock. I continue to spiral down into my depressing and crazy thoughts, but they always revolve around the Hatter, Alice, and Underland. I pull my feet up onto the bed, and I start to rock back 'n forth violently. Why didn't I remember my sister, while I was at the red queen's castle? When did I stop being the good older sister, and not worry about her? Why couldn't I help her with this Jabberwocky situation?

"AnaBeth," someone grabs my shoulders, but I don't care. The person says my name more urgently, but I continue to rock back 'n forth. Finally, the person removes their hands, and I think they left, but I am wrong. Whoever is with me, gently but firmly grabs my hands and take them away from my face. I close my eyes and those three questions keep replaying in my head. A pair of lips crash against mine, and all the voices that tell me that I am horrible are gone. The three questions disappear from my mind, and I feel at peace with myself. The person pulls away from me, and still holds my hands.

"Are you all right, AnaBeth?" Tarrant whispers, which makes me open my eyes slowly, while I still savor the feeling of his lips on mine. I nod my head yes, and just stare at him with adoring eyes. This is another reason that I love Tarrant, because he can make my craziness disappear and makes me feel whole. Smiling at him, I lean forward and kiss him slowly, but sweetly. After a minute of just kissing, I pull away from the kiss so I can catch my breath. If my heart beats any faster, I think that my heart might stop altogether. Looking at the Hatter still, he has his adorable childlike smile that melts my heart again.

"Do you know, Tarrant, that you are my savior from everything?" I whisper to him with passion in my voice. He looks at me with love in his eyes that makes me want to melt into a puddle at my feet. Gently taking my hands, he kisses the top of them, while he keeps eye contact with me. A blush creeps onto my face, but I keep myself from looking away from him.

"You, my crazy angel, keep me sane or as sane as I can be," he replies, and I blush even deeper than before. His loving demeanor turns a little sad, and he sits down next to me. Giving him a questioning look, he sighs and looks down at our intertwine hands, "Even though I am not the champion, I will still be at the battle today."

"If you are fighting then I'll go too," I firmly say to him, but before he can disagree with me, I hold up one of my hands, "I am doing this for both you and my sister. I told her I would by her side during this battle, so I have to go."

"All right, my crazy angel, but promise me you will not get yourself hurt," he looks at me pleadingly. Saying of course, I kiss him again, and stay in his arms. Remembering my sister, I move my head up to see him, but I continue to lay my head on his shoulder.

"Have you seen Alice, Tarrant?" I ask him, and he looks down at me. Nodding his head, he looks out towards the window as he replies to my question.

"As I was walking over here, I saw her out in the maze-garden. She seems to be talking to Absolem," I nod my head, and I look out towards the window also. After an hour, my Hatter slowly starts to move around, and I move off him.

"We have to go, my crazy angel," he looks at me, and I nod my head. A question pops into my head that makes me wonder if I should go to battle. How am I going to fight if I don't know how to use a weapon?

"Um, Tarrant?" he looks at me expectantly, and I sigh, "I don't know how to use a weapon, let alone fight."

"You can stay next to the queen during the fight. The queen isn't going to fight either," he reassures me, and I smile kindly at him. He takes my hand and we walk toward the entrance of the castle, but he stops before we leave. The Hatter tells me to wait here, and he leaves through a door. A couple of minutes later, he comes back wielding a sword that stops right at his waist.

"Wait, you know how to wield a sword?!" I say surprisingly, and he laughs, while he shakes his hand at my question. Switching the sword onto his right hand, he grabs my right hand with his left. He looks at me with a look that says "of course I do" and we walk outside.

Waiting for the rest of the soldiers to assemble, we stand in front with the white queen. She looks majestic on her white horse, while we just stare out towards the direction that the battle field will be at. I can hear everyone getting ready behind us, but I don't turn around. There is only one sound that I will turn around for, and that is the sound of my sister coming, but so far that isn't happening. From my peripheral vision, I can see Mirana looking back to see if my sister is coming yet. I know that we are supposed to be leaving in a few minutes, so I can feel the nerves rolling off the queen. Turning to my head to the right, I see that Tarrant is turning crazy, because his face is serious and crazy. Giving his hand a gentle squeeze, I turn back to the road ahead.

Suddenly, a roar brings me back to my senses, and a huge smile spreads across my face. My sister is coming, and she is riding on the back of the Bandersnatch. Quickly turning around, I realize that Alice is wearing the full armor suit that I saw when we first arrived at Marmoreal. In her right hand is the Vorpal Sword, and she looks ready to fight anything. The nerves that the queen was giving off earlier is replaced with happiness. Tarrant and I move to the left, so Alice can be in-between Hatter and Mirana.

When she reaches the front, I give her a happy smile, and we start marching off towards the battlefield. Oh! I hope that by the end of this battle, the Hatter, Alice, and the white queen are all right. I don't know what I will do if Tarrant gets hurt or worse...dead. Don't get me wrong, I will be upset if Alice or even the white queen gets hurt or killed, but the Mad Hatter is different than the rest of them. If he dies or gets hurt, I will have no reason to live, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that. I don't believe that I can ever love someone like I love Tarrant. My short romance with Lowell wasn't even like this, because compared with this love, that love with Lowell is just a crush. Please, let everything be all right and not turn out horrible.


	12. The Battle

The battle field isn't really a field, I soon find out. Instead of grass or dirt, the battlefield is a giant chessboard. How is that even possible?! If I am going to be staying in this world with the Hatter, then I guess I'm going to have to get used to these kinds of things. Tarrant and I let go of each other's hands, and I step closer to him for some sort of safety. The white army stops and wait for the red army, but we don't have to wait that long. Four card soldiers carry in a box that has the red queen in it, while the black armored man is riding a horse behind them. While the white queen steps down from her horse, the red army keeps pouring in, and I realize that her army is twice our army, which makes me even more nervous. How does she have more soldiers than us, because I thought they had equal power? Huh, maybe I've been wrong this whole time. When the enemy army finally stops pouring in, I take note that it is twice our army. The red queen steps out of her box and looks like she is ready to murder the white queen. Mirana and Iracebeth walk to the center of the chessboard, while we all tense up, ready to attack just in case.

Being the sweet queen that she is, Mirana tries to reason with Iracebeth to not fight, but of course Iracebeth yells at the top of her lungs wanting her 'rightful' crown. She calls for her Jabberwocky, and the white queen backs away from her towards our side. My sister gets down from the Bandersnatch, and walk to her, giving her a quick hug before she walks toward the center of the chessboard. Tarrant gentle pushes me toward the area that the white queen is standing in, while he looks tensely at my sister. The Jabberwocky walks to my sister and talks in his baritone voice.

"We meet again, foolish girl," he says, and my entire body goes rigid just seeing him that close to my younger sister. The white queen puts her arm around my shoulder to give me some comfort, and I must turn away before I do something foolish. Looking at my crazy Hatter, his entire demeanor changes to the point that his demeanor is how it was in the forest. His eyes are yellow, his skin is darker, and his clothes are darker too. Oh, I want to reach out and get rid of his craziness like he did for me, but I don't reach out to strokes his hand. What everyone needs right now is the Mad Hatter...well...mad, to survive this battle. So, I simply watch him to make sure he doesn't do anything that will start needless bloodshed. A roar makes me turn sharply to the center of the battlefield, and notice that they are starting to fight. Go, Alice, Go!

Alice lunges forward with the sword, but it doesn't hit the Jabberwocky. I notice that she is talking about something, but from where I am at I cannot hear what she is saying. My lip-reading sucks, but I catch a glimpse of her saying impossible things before breakfast. She keeps lunging towards him, but he keeps deflecting. Right as Alice notices, I notice a rune of a tower that can be useful for her fight with the weird talking dragon being. While her back is turn towards the Jabberwocky to get to the tower, it takes the opportunity to attack her, but thankfully Tarrant comes to the rescue. He takes his sword and pokes the dragon in the tail, which takes its focus away from my sister. Unfortunately, he has interfered with their fight, which is a signal for everyone to start fighting.

"Your Majesty, do you think that this will end well?" I ask Mirana, as I continue to look back 'n forth between Tarrant and Alice. She replies with a hope so, and I look back at Tarrant to see him fighting with the black armored man. Quickly glancing at the white queen, I ask her, "Your Majesty, who is that man that Tarrant is fighting?"

"He is called the Knave of Hearts, AnaBeth," she replies, and I nod my head, while I look over at Alice. Well, I don't see Alice anymore, but considering that the Jabberwocky isn't carrying the dead body of my sister, I'm going to assume that she is all right and is still fighting or hiding at least.

Looking at the entire battle, I notice that no one has been killed on either side, so that is a plus so far. Turning my attention to the huge head on the other side, I take note that the red queen has her usual scowl on her face, while she watches the fighting play out. Mostly she is watching the Knave of Hearts more than anyone else, which brings a smirk onto my face. Someone has a crush on the Knave of Hearts! Another roar makes my attention return to the tower rune that is being demolished even more by the Jabberwocky.

Alice is at the very top of the tower swinging the Vorpal Sword at the dragon, as the dragon has its black scaly body around the tower. It throws its head forward to eat my sister, but she jumps and uses the column to spring forward over the Jabberwocky's head. She lands on its back and it tries to throw her off itself like a bull, but it isn't working out for it.

Looking back at the Hatter, I realize that the Knave of Heart is on the ground without a sword, and my love is standing over him ready to end his life. His craziness has reach his limit and he is completely gone. Should I stop him from killing the Knave of Heart? Or should I let his precise hands get soak with the blood of the enemy? The answer is obvious, because if I don't stop this Tarrant will hate himself when he comes back to his senses. Before I can even call his name, everyone hears Alice say the famous catchphrase of the red queen.

"Off with your head!" she shouts as she is in the air. Alice comes down and beheads the Jabberwocky with one swing. The head of the dragon starts going down the stairs like a slicky toy. It bounces down the spiraling staircase until it lands at the bottom of the tower. My baby sister has slayed the famous Jabberwocky, which means that the battle is over. The white queen is the official queen of Underland, and the red queen has no more power.

My love looks down at the head of the Jabberwocky, and looks at what he is doing. No one is fighting anymore, and Mirana gags a little bit. Tarrant comes back to his senses and takes away his foot from the Knave's chest. Looking like he is disgusted or scared of the sword, he throws it to his side and moves away from the Knave of Heart. A second after he discards his weapon, everyone on both sides of the battle discard their weapons. My Mad Hatter walks over to me, and wraps his right arm around my waist. My sister calmly, yet slowly, walks down the stairs, and everyone is dead silent. Taking a deep breath of relief, I take in the dirt smell of the desert environment.

"OFF WITH HER HEAD!" Iracebeth's voice rings out across the chessboard, but no one moves to do her orders anymore. Instead her own men call her bloody big head, and that makes me chuckle a little bit. The gold crown with red gems lifts from her head and floats down onto Mirana's head. Instead of the crown being the same, it changes to a silver metal and white gem, which is perfect for the white queen. As the crown lands on her head, Cheshire makes himself visible and calls Mirana the queen of Underland. I think this is the most I have seen her happy since I met her.

"Iracebeth Marmoreal," she says sternly, and walks toward her, while the card soldiers hold the red queen in her place. I think Iracebeth is surprise that her own men are going against her now, because she keeps telling them to unhand her, which they don't do. Mirana starts talking about all the crimes that the red queen has done against Underland, but I tune that out as my sister walks over to me.

Tarrant removes his hand, so I can hug my sister until she can't breathe. At the end of the day, I'm just glad that my sister isn't hurt and isn't dead.

"I'm so glad you are all right, sister," I whisper in her ear, and a small smile comes across my face. Pulling away a little bit, I give her a close-eyed smile, while I say, "I'm so proud of you. I told you, I would be by your side during this battle."

With her on my right side and Tarrant on my left, we tune back into the main conversation that the royalty is having. It seems we miss most of the conversation, but we manage to find out the red queen's punishment.

"-You are exiled from Underland, and no one will ever show you a bit of kindness," the white queen says firmly, while the red queen looks like she is going to cry. Before she is taken away, the Knave of Heart bends in front of Mirana begging for forgiveness, but he isn't fooling anyone. Unfortunately, Iracebeth looks so hurt by the fact that the Knave is trying to pin everything on her. The white queen looks unamused at his apology, and gives him his own punishment.

"You will have the same punishment as Iracebeth, and are banished from Underland," she tells him, while some soldiers handcuff him to the red queen. While he looks upset about this whole ordeal, the red queen looks like she is happy that the Knave will be with her. He starts screaming for the white queen to end his life, because he doesn't want to spend his eternity with bloody big head, but I love the white queen's response, "But I'm not supposed to show you any kindness."

He looks at her with shock, but he soon turns away from her and takes out a hidden knife that is in his sleeve. The Knave of Heart tries to kill Iracebeth, but my love stops him by throwing his scissors at him, which land in the wrist that the knife was in. He drops the knife and yells for his life to end again, while the red queen looks like she is in shock.

"He tried to kill me. HE TRIED TO KILL ME!" she screams, but the soldiers are already taking her away, and the white queen turns her back on them. Mirana walks over to us, as the sun rises high in the sky, and the desert doesn't look as creepy as it did before. Tarrant walks over to the front of the runes and looks at all of us.

"Its Frabjous Day!" he exclaims in delight, and starts to perform a weird dance that makes me laugh. I hear Alice ask behind me what he is doing, and Cheshire replies that he is doing the Futterwacken, a dance that he does every Frabjous Day. Mirana laughs, while she claps her hands, and the twins are laughing with joy too. This is the most happiness that everyone has had since I have arrived in Underland. My Hatter continues his dance for a few more seconds before he bows with his top hat in his hand. Clapping excitedly, I walk over to the man and hug him. His laugh reverberates in his chest, and he sets his hat back on his head. We look at each other for a few seconds then we give each other a deeply passionate kiss. In the background, I can her people clapping and whistling, but I block them out as I focus on the kiss. After a minute, we pull away, and I turn my attention to the white queen.

Mirana is standing over the severed head of the Jabberwocky, and takes out an empty vial from her pocket. Leaning down, she puts the vial right underneath a fang of the Jabberwocky so the purple venom or blood enters it. She gags again, but she keeps her composure and lets the entire small vial fill up with the bright purple substance.

Once it is filled, she walks over to my sister and hands her the vial. So, this substance is supposed to bring Alice back to our world, and Mirana walks away from her to everyone else. I am so glad that I am not going back, because I don't think I could stomach drinking that purple liquid. Alice looks over at me, and walks over to us with the vial still in her hand.

"So, I guess you are staying here, AnaBeth," Alice whispers to me, and I nod my head with sadness creeping up to me. I'm going to miss my baby sister and mom, but I'm not leaving Tarrant at all. She looks at me with a mixture of sadness, love, and happiness. Without any hesitation, we envelope each other in a tight hug, and I take this opportunity to whisper something that only Alice can hear:

"Tell Margaret and Lowell that I forgive them, but most importantly tell Margaret that I love her," I whisper, and I feel her nod her head against my shoulder. Pulling away from her, I wipe the tears that are cascading down her face, and kiss her forehead. Tarrant steps forward and hugs Alice as well, but he also tries to convince her to stay here in Underland. If I knew I had a chance of changing her mind, I would also try to convince her to stay, but I know my baby sister, when she sets her mind to going home, nothing is going to stop her.

"I'm sorry, Hatter, but I have to go home," she replies with a sad smile. He nods his crazy head, and steps back from her. My crazy man walks behind me, and wraps his arms around my waist, while setting his chin on my shoulder. Tarrant gives me a gentle squeeze, which makes my smile grow wider with happiness and love. Alice look at all of us one more time, before she swallows all the purple liquid.

"Alice, don't forget about us and this place," I tell my sister, but by then she is disappearing in purple smoke. My sister is gone now, and I'm left here in Underland with all my new friends. Moving my head up to look at Tarrant, I notice that he is looking down at me. We kiss sweetly, before I pull away again to ask him a question.

"Where do we start, my love?" I ask him, and he crazily laughs as we look towards everyone else. Where will this new adventure lead me, I wonder? I may not know my future, but what I do know is that I will stay by the Mad Hatter's side until I die. I think this will be an amazing adventure that I can't wait.

The End

(I hope you enjoyed this story, and please let me know if you want me to write a sequel to this story. I'm glad that all of my dear readers read, liked, and simply just enjoyed this story. This is my very first fan fic that I completed, which means I am very excited and giddy. Thank you everyone! :-))


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